CEDAR KEY, Fla. — The shallow water ways surrounding Cedar Key are a refuge for wildlife and people looking for a laid-back spot.

It’s a place Scott Larsen calls home.

“I rolled in, and I went, ‘this is it,’” said Larsen. “‘This is what I’m looking for. This is the town I’m looking for.’”

Larsen is a former TV producer who spent several years in Los Angeles before deciding to settle down and relax in Florida.

After long drives and hours of searching, he found Cedar Key and ended up buying an RV campground, called Low Key Hideaway and Tiki Bar, about three years ago.

“Just trying to make us like a one stop shop, you can come here and stay there and have a great time,” Larsen said.

That meant adding on to the existing tiki bar with food trucks, air boat tours and sunset boat tours too.

His home was even on the property, but, according to Larsen, in the last year-and-a-half, Mother Nature has caused him to live in his home for only about a month.

First came Idalia in 2023, which damaged lots of his property.

Then came Debby, which, for him, was the most manageable, but still taxing when it came to rebuilding motel rooms and ensuring mold didn’t grow.

“You have to pull the baseboard and cut off some of the drywall,” Larsen said. “I mean, even this much water causes a lot of damage.”

Helene, though, was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Larsen.

“This one came in so violent that hurricane doors were smashed in where they open out, they were smashed, and the windows were smashed, and it was just ruined beyond my belief,” he said.

When he saw his home and his business destroyed once again, Larsen decided it was time to do things differently.

“You can’t fight that Mother Nature that we have to work with,” he said. “We have to know that the water is going to come through.”

So, his motel is gone. He’s replacing it with an extended bar and putting epoxy all over so all he has to do is pressure wash after the next hurricane.

He’s also putting all of their belongings in rollaway containers, so nothing gets damaged, and he’s bought a home on stilts in Cedar Key, so it’s elevated from storm surge.

But even with these solutions, there was something that Larsen didn’t expect — a lack of volunteers immediately following Helene.

“The hope was gone on this island, like, it was just gone,” Larsen said. “And all the businesses were saying we’re not coming back, and that was tough.”

According to Larsen, the large groups of volunteers after Idalia and Debby didn’t show up for Helene, so he decided to make a plea on Facebook.

That plea, to Larsen’s surprise, went viral.

“It got 1.2 million views, and it just turned snowballing from there,” he said.

Larsen started using the newfound notoriety online to coordinate help for Cedar Key.

“My whole life, I’ve been looking for a way to get back and do something for people,” he said. “And I haven’t figured out, ‘What is it? What do I have to offer to do that?’ And after this, when I realized that there’s a need for this, there’s a need for somebody to get the volunteers ... and help people.”

Larsen said he’s hired crews to clean up debris, clear destroyed buildings and help restore his beloved town with the goal of making sustainable improvements instead of fixing what will be destroyed next hurricane season.

“I know everybody else really wanted to walk away,” Larsen said. “I’m like, no, we don’t have to. We just need to do things differently. We need to have a better plan.”

On top of that, because the lone grocery store in town was destroyed, Larsen is converting his former home into Cedar Key’s grocery store.

With all that going on, Larsen still takes time to enjoy the reasons he came to Cedar Key in the first place.

It’s the breathtaking beauty of nature and of community that’s in this former TV producer’s spotlight and he’s doing whatever he can to keep it that way.