Hurricane Idalia is anticipated to make landfall early Wednesday alongside Florida’s Big Bend, a marshy coast of sparsely populated wetlands identified for its freshwater springs and tiny fishing villages — together with Cedar Key, a conglomeration of tiny islands related by small bridges, the place a lethal storm struck in 1896 and killed at the least 70 folks in Florida.

Forecasters stated Idalia might trigger as much as 12 toes of storm surge within the Big Bend area, which is loosely outlined as the world the place the north-south portion of the Florida peninsula curves towards the east-west portion of the Panhandle.

The Big Bend was final hit by a hurricane in 2016, when Hermine, a Category 1 storm, got here ashore there. The harm was restricted, given the small inhabitants within the space. One individual died. But a uncommon winter storm in March 1993 introduced dashing Gulf waters into properties, and 47 folks died, many by drowning.

Evacuations were ordered for Cedar Key on Monday, together with different coastal areas, together with Yankeetown, Fowlers Bluff and Fanning Springs. Sue Colson, a Cedar Key metropolis commissioner, stated individuals who didn’t need to heed the orders needed to put together for the likelihood that the one street out and in of city might be washed out, or that Cedar Key’s 700 properties — about two-thirds of that are trip leases — might be with out energy, water and sewer service for weeks.

“We’re three miles in the Gulf,” Ms. Colson stated. “We’ve already been experiencing the tides that come from global warming. We have flooding issues pretty regularly.”

Cedar Key is understood for its shellfish, particularly clams and oysters. Locals like to notice that they’ve the smallest college within the state, in addition to the shortest paved public runway.