MEMORANDUM
City of Pensacola Beach
Emergency Manager's Office

To:        The Mayor
From:      Amy Reliant, Emergency Manager
Regarding: Barrier Island--We're first to be hit.

As you know, our island is an easy target for a hurricane. If Olivia comes this way, we could be hit hard. One key reason is that we are on a "Barrier Island."

I know that you know the basic facts:

• Our island has the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway on the other.
• Barrier islands, like ours, are bits of land sitting in front of the main coastline. You can see from the map that our island runs parrallel to the coast, sitting just offshore.
• Islands like ours live up to their names--they act as barriers for the main coastline. When a storm comes along, we take the brunt of it's attack.

Since we are first to see a storm's effects, we get them full force.

In fact, this island is actually trying to move because of these storms. I don't mean the island is packing up it's bags... instead each of these big storms pushes the island sand a bit closer to the mainland.

The storms do this with their high waves, or storm surge. The water goes so high, a good portion of the island will be underwater if the storm hits here.

I recommend evacuating the island. We cannot take the risk of having a bunch of tourists and local residents stranded in the storm surge. Many people might drown.

It is a tough decision, since the storm could miss us. Even if it does, however, we can say we did the right thing to protect our residents.

   Police Chief: "I can't rescue people in a hurricane!"

Legal Note: This is a only fictional account. It is not meant to reflect the opinion of any actual person working for the City of Pensacola Beach or actual area tourism officials. Hey...it's just a weather lesson!