Bill Kearney - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Here’s a look at the factors that allow a relatively compact storm such as Idalia to send surge down nearly the entire west coast of Florida, and the strokes of luck that kept the damage from being worse.

The Sunshine State, with its low elevation and 825 miles of shoreline, make it one of the planet’s most vulnerable locations for both sea-level rise and intensified weather events.

An ambitious new paper produced by the U.S. Geological Survey found that the python population has exploded in only 20 years from a few snakes at the southern tip of Everglades National Park to an invasion that envelops the southern third of Florida.

Wildlife officials are using a new method to help control the explosive population growth of the invasive snake by tracking down their prey.

It is speculated that the species moved into Key West as a result of Hurricane Ian.