Author: Jennifer Kay
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Hurricane Michael gains strength; expected to hit Florida Panhandle
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MIAMI • Hurricane Michael gained new strength Monday and is expected to keep growing stronger ahead of an expected midweek strike on Florida’s Panhandle, forecasters said. Michael could become a major hurricane with winds topping 111 mph by Tuesday night before the anticipated landfall Wednesday on the Panhandle or Big Bend, according to the National…
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Storm Gordon brings hurricane warning
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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. • Tropical Storm Gordon lashed South Florida with heavy rains and high winds Monday and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane when it hits the central U.S. Gulf Coast. Gordon formed into a tropical storm near the Florida Keys early Monday as it moved west-northwest at 17 mph . The storm…
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Alberto downgraded to a depression, spreading heavy rains
Forecasters downgraded Alberto to a still-dangerous depression Monday evening, warning heavy rains and an accompanying flood threat would continue in the aftermath of the storm’s landfall in the Florida Panhandle. The Memorial Day strike on the Gulf Coast by the first named storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season drove holiday beachgoers away from roiling,…
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Florida school shooting: ‘abject breakdown at all levels’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida high school where a former student shot and killed 17 people with an assault-type rifle reopened for teachers Friday as the community grappled with word that the armed officer on campus did nothing to stop the shooter. That failure, plus reports of a delay in security camera footage scanned…
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Florida governor: Ban gun sales to underage and mentally ill
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As teachers returned Friday to a high school where a shooter killed 17 people, Florida’s governor proposed banning the sale of firearms to anyone younger than 21. Gov. Rick Scott announced the proposal as part of a plan to prevent gun violence. He also called for a trained law enforcement officer…
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It’s so cold in Florida, iguanas are falling from trees
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — It’s so cold in Florida that iguanas are falling from their perches in suburban trees. Temperatures dipped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) early Thursday in parts of South Florida, according to the National Weather Service in Miami. That’s chilly enough to immobilize green iguanas common in Miami’s suburbs. Palm…
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Nursing home tragedy unfolded days after Irma’s initial hit
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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The first 911 call from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills didn’t sound ominous: A nursing home patient had an abnormal heartbeat. An hour later, came a second call: a patient had trouble breathing. Then came the third call. A patient had gone into cardiac arrest — and died. Over the next…
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Now a tropical storm, Irma hits Florida with wind, flooding
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MIAMI — Authorities sent an aircraft carrier and other Navy ships to help with search-and-rescue operations in Florida on Monday as a flyover of the hurricane-battered Keys yielded what the governor said were scenes of devastation. “I just hope everyone survived,” Gov. Rick Scott said. He said boats were cast ashore, water, sewers and electricity…
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Hurricane Irma: Punishing winds, rain lash much of Florida
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MIAMI — Hurricane Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 130 mph Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline. The 400-mile-wide (640-kilometer-wide) storm blew ashore in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then marched up its western coast, its punishing winds…
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Growing sinkhole swallows 2 houses, 1 boat in Florida
LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — A sinkhole that swallowed a boat and destroyed two homes had stopped growing and officials said Saturday they would monitor it over the weekend before determining when cleanup can begin. The hole has been stagnant since Friday afternoon, said Kevin Guthrie, Pasco County’s assistant administrator for public safety. He confirmed…