Tag: Florida

Hurricane Milton leaves at least 10 dead, millions without power in Florida

By Brad Brooks and Leonora LaPeter Anton FORT PIERCE, Florida/ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) -Hurricane Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after cutting a destructive path across Florida that spawned tornados, killed at least 10 people and left millions without power, but the storm did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared. Governor Ron DeSantis said the state had avoided the “worst-case scenario,” though he cautioned the damage was still significant […]

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US southeast faces daunting task cleaning up from Helene; death toll rises

By Rich McKay, Joseph Ax and Andrew Hay ATLANTA (Reuters) – Authorities across a wide swath of the southeastern United States faced the daunting task on Saturday of cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful to hit the country, as the death toll continued to rise. At least 43 deaths were reported by late on Friday, and officials feared still more bodies would be discovered across several states. Helene, downgraded late on […]

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Hurricane Helene barrels toward Florida; fierce winds, storm surge expected

By Rich McKay, Brendan O’Brien and Andrew Hay (Reuters) -Florida braced for the arrival of Hurricane Helene on Thursday, forecast to be a powerful Category 4 storm when it smashes into the state’s panhandle. Officials issued dire warnings, pleading with residents in coastal areas along the hurricane’s path to evacuate ahead of catastrophic winds and a potentially deadly storm surge, the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds, that could rise to 20 […]

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Debby, now a tropical storm, soaks northern Florida

By Maria Alejandra Cardona STEINHATCHEE, Florida (Reuters) -Tropical Storm Debby drenched northern Florida on Monday and killed several people as the downgraded hurricane churned toward Georgia and the Carolinas, threatening a week of torrential downpours and flooding across the region. The slow-moving storm plowed into Florida’s Gulf Coast around 7 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, making landfall near Steinhatchee about 70 miles (115 km) southeast of Tallahassee, the National […]

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Florida lawmakers pass kids’ social media ban, bill heads to governor

MIAMI, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Florida lawmakers moved Thursday toward enacting one of the strictest bans on children’s use of social media in the United States, sending to the governor a bill to keep those under 16 off such platforms. The controversial legislation seeks to protect children’s mental health against the “addictive features” of such platforms, amid fears over online dangers including from sexual predators, cyber bullying and teen suicide. The legislation cleared the […]

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Red vs. Blue: DeSantis and Newsom set to clash in televised debate

By Christopher Monterrosa, with Frankie Taggart in Washington ATLANTA, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – They are ambitious and relatively young leaders whose passionate views about running their large, powerful states offer contrasting ideals on how the deeply-polarized United States should be run. But Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom, his counterpart in Democratic California, will swap social media antagonism for an in-person televised debate Thursday that could be preview the White House race […]

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Florida man convicted of two murders executed by lethal injection

MIAMI, Oct 3, 2023 (AFP) – A Florida man convicted of murdering two women in 1996 was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, local media said. Michael Zack, 54, was put to death at the Florida State Prison in the town of Raiford, the Pensacola News Journal reported. The newspaper said the lethal drug cocktail was administered at 6:02 pm and Zack was pronounced dead 12 minutes later. Zack was sentenced to death in 1997 […]

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Five dead in Florida after freight train slams into SUV

MIAMI, Sept 24, 2023 (AFP) – Five people were killed Saturday night after a freight train crashed into an SUV at a rail crossing in the US state of Florida, police said. The SUV driver approached the Plant City crossing, which is controlled only by signage, and drove on without looking both ways, Sheriff Chad Chronister told a news conference, citing video footage and witness testimony. “The conductor of the train did everything he could […]

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Alligator killed after Florida woman’s body found in jaws

MIAMI, Sept 24, 2023 (AFP) – An alligator was killed as it was removed from a creek in the US state of Florida along with a 41-year-old woman’s body, officials said Saturday. Police said they had responded to a report of a body seen in the creek in Largo, Florida, and that the 13-foot, 8.5-inch (4-meter) male alligator was “humanely killed” on Friday. Officers identified the body on Saturday, but said “the manner and cause […]

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‘Extremely dangerous’ Hurricane Idalia makes landfall on Florida coast

ST. PETERSBURG, United States, Aug 30, 2023 (AFP) – Hurricane Idalia slammed into northwest Florida as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm early Wednesday, as officials warned of catastrophic impacts including storm surges of up to 16 feet (about five meters). Authorities in the southern US state described Idalia and its potentially deadly high surging waters as a once-in-a-lifetime event for Florida’s northwest coast, ordering mass evacuations and issuing flood alerts. The US National Hurricane […]

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Hurricane Idalia intensifies as nears Florida

By Jesus Olarte, with Gerard Martinez in Steinhatchee, Florida Hurricane Idalia intensified early Wednesday as it hurtled towards northwest Florida, threatening “catastrophic” impacts including a dangerous storm surge, with officials forecasting it will slam the coast within hours as an extreme and historic Category 4 storm. Authorities in the southern US state described Idalia and its potentially deadly storm surge as a once-in-a-lifetime event for Florida’s northwest coast, as they ordered mass evacuations and issued […]

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Hurricane Idalia poses grave threat to Florida with 15-foot storm surge and potential catastrophic devastation

STEINHATCHEE, United States, Aug 29, 2023 (AFP) – Hurricane Idalia intensified Tuesday as it churned toward the west coast of Florida, triggering mass evacuation orders and flood alerts as authorities warned of life-threatening ocean surge and catastrophic destruction when the storm rages ashore early Wednesday. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Idalia, which earlier raked western Cuba, had strengthened to a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour, and […]

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