Hurricanes

Nicole made landfall as a hurricane today near Vero Beach, but the brunt of the damage was along the East Coast well north of there. By late morning, the storm was centered between Tampa and Orlando with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Instead of noon Saturday, county supervisors of elections have until noon Monday to submit the first set of unofficial returns from Tuesday’s elections.

NASA is again postponing the launch of its new moon rocket because of a storm threatening the Florida coast.

The marine lab has been growing coral at a Summerland Key facility since 2000. Even as Ian sideswiped the Keys, researchers were hosting a conference to teach reef restoration techniques to other scientists.

County Comptroller Phil Diamond said tourist development tax collections for September were more than $24 million, a 48.6 percent increase over the same period in 2021.

There are some people concerned that a shortage of skilled trade workers, structural regulations and an influx of developers will change the coastal town's "mom-and-pop" culture.

In the four weeks before Ian made landfall Sept. 28, Florida averaged 5,498 unemployment claims a week. In the four weeks after Ian, the state averaged 10,779 claims a week.

Lengthy checklists from public health officials on handling emergencies miss vulnerable seniors who can’t always follow the recommendations.

Hundreds of medical centers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts face serious risks from even relatively weak storms as climate change accelerates sea-level rise — not to mention big ones like Category 4 Hurricane Ian.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell met with Gov. Ron DeSantis to go over the federal response to Hurricane Ian. "We know that this is going to be a very complicated and complex recovery,” she says.

Thousands of people were evacuated from nursing homes and hospitals across Florida on Thursday even as winds and water from Hurricane Ian began receding.

Gov, Ron DeSantis warned that flooding is likely to occur “hundreds of miles" from where the storm made landfall in Southwest Florida, with the potential for record-setting flooding in what he characterized as a “500-year flood event.”