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Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

Florida therapy dog comes out of retirement to help Hurricane Milton recovery efforts

Weather / Weather News /

VERO BEACH, Fla. — The same tornado that devastated the Spanish Lakes neighborhood in For Pierce, killing six people, crossed into Indian River County — ripping up roofs and trees in Vero Beach, according to the National Weather Service.

Although there were no deaths in Vero Beach from Hurricane Milton — which spawned a series of violent ...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

DeSantis says state will help with Hurricane Milton debris removal

Weather / Weather News /

Gov. Ron DeSantis is again using state forces to help with county and city debris removal after Hurricane Milton came tearing through Florida, he announced Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a 100% reimbursement rate for debris collection in Florida’s impacted areas for a 90-day window. Ordinarily, the federal ...Read more

Biden surveys Pinellas storm damage, pledges funds after Milton, Helene

Weather / Weather News /

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Standing in front of a storm-battered home outside Sunset Park, President Joe Biden announced $612 million in new investments in projects to support recovery from Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

The funds, dispersed through the U.S. Department of Energy, include $47 million to Florida Power & Light and $47 million to ...Read more

State green-lights free gas for residents after Hurricane Milton -- but lines are long

Weather / Weather News /

MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis gave the green light to open a network of free-fuel distribution depots in Southwest Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton — a Category 3 storm that left much of the area without power, including gas stations.

DeSantis made the announcement on Saturday in Bradenton during the opening of a gas distribution ...Read more

Gulf Coast beach towns reel from back-to-back hurricanes but promise a 'comeback'

Weather / Weather News /

SIESTA KEY – Scott Giorgi worked outside his waterfront home Friday loading hurricane debris into the bed of his black pickup when a tossed tree branch shattered the truck’s back window. He shrugged it off and kept hauling.

What’s one more window to fix when two hurricanes in two weeks battered your island home, pushing six feet of sea ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

13 days, 2 hurricanes, and incalculable anxiety in Tampa Bay

Weather / Weather News /

TAMPA, Fla. — We were still mucking the floors and ripping out drywall when we saw the first forecast.

The National Hurricane Center released the graphic, an ugly white blob over the Gulf of Mexico, at 11 a.m. last Saturday. It reached us via texts from our cousins and alerts from the local news or guys showing us their phone screen in line ...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

'Nobody came': Tampa Bay seniors go days without power after Milton

Weather / Weather News /

TAMPA, Fla. — By Friday evening, Jan Elizabeth Campbell was tired.

Tired of walking up and down 11 flights in a pitch-black stairwell to get out of her downtown St. Petersburg senior living complex, 540 Town Center.

Tired of living without air conditioning, without water, without hot food.

Tired of hauling all her devices to a nearby Wendy�...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Orange growers were looking for a turnaround. Then Milton came.

Weather / Weather News /

Oranges and some citrus trees are lying useless on the ground in Florida’s groves after Hurricane Milton tore through the state, setting back growers just as they hoped the worst for the struggling industry was over.

The powerful storm moved through key citrus-producing counties after making landfall in Florida Wednesday night, killing at ...Read more

Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Orlando-area farms rocked by Hurricane Milton work to recover

Weather / Weather News /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mike Garcia’s boots sank into the earth as he walked the drowned fields of Orlando’s Everoak Farm in the wake of Hurricane Milton’s violent visit. The urban oasis off Carrington Road just outside the Baldwin Park neighborhood has been serving the city for five-and-a-half years. He’s been market farming for longer than ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hurricane Milton's floodwaters are hiding a dirty secret

Weather / Weather News /

Hurricane Milton may have dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean, but the floodwaters it left across Florida still pose a major risk to human health and safety.

Even though the risk of drowning or getting injured in rising, fast-moving water is past, standing water remains treacherous to navigate and likely harbors dangerous diseases. Walking in it...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

More than 75,000 in Central Florida still without power after Hurricane Milton

Weather / Weather News /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tens of thousands of Central Floridians were still waiting to have their power restored Saturday — two days after Hurricane Milton ripped through the region

Local utilities promised most customers would get their lights turned back on this weekend.

PowerOutage.us was reporting at 1:30 p.m. that 77,355 customers of various ...Read more

Milton's deadly jolt in St. Lucie. 'We were prepared for a hurricane, but not a tornado'

Weather / Weather News /

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Hours before Hurricane Milton slammed into the Gulf Coast Wednesday evening around Sarasota, Gary Gapkaloff decided to put up his aluminum storm shutters, despite living in Fort Pierce, more than 150 miles away on the opposite coast of Florida.

As he and a neighbor were about to cover one of the windows on his house in the...Read more

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Popular vacation spot on Gulf reopens after Milton to residents, but beaches still closed

Weather / Weather News /

MIAMI — Holmes Beach, a popular Gulf vacation spot off Bradenton, reopened to residents and business owners Saturday at 8 a.m.

Holmes Beach Police Department said in a post on social media that you must have a reentry tag issued by the city or proof of residency showing you live in Holmes Beach to enter. Police said they are not allowing ...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hurricane Milton's forecast track was stunningly accurate. The next one may not be as exact

Weather / Weather News /

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A stunningly precise forecast of Hurricane Milton’s track gave Floridians a strong head start to prepare this past week. It marked the latest instance that a major hurricane has been mapped in precise detail — its path was accurately predicted a whole four days before it made landfall.

Milton’s first cone ...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

Florida's hurricane-weary Gulf Coast residents evacuated for Milton. How lives were saved

Weather / Weather News /

MIAMI — As Hurricane Milton barreled towards Florida’s Gulf Coast, Primitivo Cesario planned to ride it out with his family in their trailer home in Ruskin, on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay. But he heeded dire warnings from public officials and evacuated to a shelter several miles away, along with everyone else at Fairmont Mobile Estates, ...Read more

Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Thousands of Central Floridians expected to get power back this weekend

Weather / Weather News /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tens of thousands of Central Floridians were still waiting to have their power restored on Friday, a day after Hurricane Milton ripped through the region, but local utilities promised most customers would get their lights turned back on this weekend.

One of the area’s largest providers, the Orlando Utilities Commission, said...Read more

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Hurricane Milton evacuees return to barrier islands to pick up pieces

Weather / Weather News /

SARASOTA, Fla. — Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, many residents were returning to the barrier islands off Sarasota for the first time since evacuating earlier in the week.

Late Friday morning, cars flowed freely over the John Ringling Causeway leading from Sarasota onto St. Armands Key, a few hours ...Read more

Hulton Archive/Getty Images North America/TNS

Florida ape sanctuary where Michael Jackson's chimpanzee lives was damaged during Hurricane Milton

Weather / Weather News /

MIAMI — Humans were not the only primates affected by Hurricane Milton. The Center for Great Apes in Wauchula suffered significant damage even though its residents are safe.

The Center for Great Apes is home to Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s former chimpanzee. It also hosts five orangutans who used to live on Jungle Island. In 2021, the Watson ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

While Hurricane Milton darkened Central Florida, the lights stayed on in Winter Park. Here's why

Weather / Weather News /

ORLANDO — As Hurricane Milton pelted Winter Park with gusty winds and rains, televisions and lights stayed on and food and air stayed cold across the city.

A mere 275 customers of the city-owned electric utility went dark — less than 2% of its 15,000 customers. That’s a sharp contrast to the hundreds of thousands who lost power across ...Read more

Polk County Sheriff's Office/Polk County Sheriff's Office/TNS

Woman in labor has 'white-knuckle' ride to hospital during hurricane, Florida cops say

Weather / Weather News /

The closest route was through a town under a flash flood warning. Heavy rain was falling, electricity for traffic lights was spotty and wind gusts carried potentially dangerous debris.

Nonetheless, a pregnant Florida woman was in labor as Hurricane Milton was crossing Polk County, Thursday, Oct. 10, and she desperately needed to get to a ...Read more