The Cedar Keys Hurricane of 1896: Disaster at Dawn

Families watched in horror as walls of water swept away homes and businesses, and men held onto saplings for their lives while the winds howled.The destruction was beyond belief. Buildings on Atsena Otie were swept away so completely that only cracked stone foundations remained, and the forests of red cedar that gave the islands their name and livelihood were flattened. Resulting in dozens of deaths and millions of dollars in damage, Hurricane Number 4 in 1896 changed the Cedar Keys forever and