'This one is serious:' Cedar Key commissioner urges residents to evacuate before Idalia hits

AccuWeather

"Not great conditions for us and great conditions for this hurricane" is how Sue Colson, city commissioner for Cedar Key, Florida, described the conditions in the days leading up to Idalia's landfall.

Transcript

00:00 be tracking Edalia, which has its sights set on the west coast of Florida. And one of the

00:05 areas set to feel those impacts is the city of Cedar Key, right as you're getting into

00:11 the Big Bend here. Joining us live from Cedar Key is Commissioner Sue Colson. Sue, good

00:16 morning. Thank you so much for joining us. We know you are very busy, so we'll hop right

00:20 to it. How are you all preparing for the storm?

00:23 Well, actually, we started the last week of May to prepare. We always have a hurricane

00:29 prep day. We inform our citizens about what we expect from them and how we can help them

00:34 be have a safe hurricane season and get through these storms. Being an island community three

00:40 miles into the Gulf, we take these things very seriously.

00:44 Yes, certainly Cedar Key, no stranger to hurricane landfalls. And Commissioner, what are your

00:50 top concerns as a city official and your top concerns as a resident as well?

00:57 Well, there's always the fact that we have storm surge. That's our number one concern

01:05 always. However, this time we're worried about wind and surge and a tide that's going to

01:12 be pretty high in the next few days by the moon cycle. So we're expecting not great conditions

01:21 for us and great conditions for this hurricane. We want everyone to remember that this one

01:28 is serious and take it seriously and make your preparations today. By tomorrow, you

01:34 should be packed up and gone, hopefully, and your place secured.

01:41 Last question for you here, Sue. I have to ask, you know, a lot of people moving towards

01:44 your part of the state here. Any advice for, let's say, newer residents of Cedar Key, people

01:50 who haven't gone through a tropical system before as we look toward this storm?

01:56 You may not have water. You may not have sewage treatment for days. You may not have a way

02:04 in and out if a bridge gets wiped out, which we saw in southeast, I mean southwest Florida

02:08 last year. Bridges can be knocked out. You won't get in, you won't get out. So the best

02:13 thing is to prepare for that by, you know, getting off the island if possible, because

02:19 you're not going to have any of those amenities and no one can come to you and help you during

02:25 the storm. So you really need to leave. If you are planning it, you need to plan it now.

02:31 So you're executing it by tomorrow night. Anything in your yard that's loose needs to

02:36 be tied down. Barbecues can become missiles. Garbage cans float away and pollute the Gulf

02:42 and run into things. So today are things that you go in your yard, look around, get everything

02:48 up, get it tied down, secure your windows, secure your doors, and do your generator safety.

02:56 If you're running a generator, please heed what the governor said. Do not do those near

03:00 the windows. Do not put them inside your homes. Do not put them in your garages. That's not

03:08 going to be helpful and it is toxic and could kill you faster than the hurricane.

03:14 All right. Sue Collins, City Commissioner of Cedar Key, Florida. Some strong words and

03:23 some very good information from the commissioner. Hopefully everybody from Cedar Key heeds her

03:28 advice. Thanks for joining us, Sue. And of course, we wish you the best.

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