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'There is no home:' Floridians find helping hands after floods

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'There is no home:' Floridians find helping hands after floods


After speaking with members of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, a man paddles back into a flooded neighborhood in Valrico, Fla. Flooding from a nearby waterway turned some neighborhoods into rivers, forcing dozens to evacuate their homes.

Ryan Kellman/NPR


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VALRICO, Florida — As the car pulled up, the few volunteers of Creekside Church of Christ moved quickly in the burning Florida sun, pulling water, hamburger meat and cookies out of the trunk and into the shade of three tents.

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They laid out snacks, a pot of spaghetti and prepped the meat for their grill for their neighbors now using the parking lot as a temporary home.


A volunteer works the grill in front of Creekside Church. Members of the church worked together throughout the day to provide food and drinks for anyone who might need it.

A volunteer works the grill in front of Creekside Church. Members of the church worked together throughout the day to provide food and drinks for anyone who might need it.

Ryan Kellman/NPR


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Three days before, Hurricane Milton hit the town of Valrico, Lithia and other communities on the west coast of Florida, bringing with it damaging winds and widespread power outages.

After the immediate threat of Milton subsided, another emerged: Major flooding from a nearby waterway turned neighborhoods into rivers, forcing dozens to evacuate their homes. Some reported water reaching up to their chest and needing to evacuate by kayak.

That’s why members of Creekside, just a mile away from one disastrous scene of flooding, gathered Saturday to provide food and drinks to their neighbors, like Shauna Thomas, whose homes are still inundated with water.

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“We want to help out,” church elder Robert Clouse said simply of the effort. “I’m concerned about these people now.”


“I don’t think we were prepared for this,” Robert Clouse said of both Milton’s destruction and the subsequent flooding in town. Despite not having power the church will hold its service this Sunday. Clouse said the service should be “memorable.”

“I don’t think we were prepared for this,” Robert Clouse said of both Milton’s destruction and the subsequent flooding in town. Despite not having power, the church will hold its service this Sunday. Clouse said the service should be “memorable.”

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Thomas and some of her neighbors have been sleeping in their cars in the church parking lot since she managed to escape her home earlier this week.

“It came in so fast and so hard that there was nothing that any of us could do. We already knew it was coming, so we got the basics that we could out. But it was just too fast,” she said.

She grabbed a suitcase of clothes and her dog, Bailey, as flood waters quickly took over her Rose Street home.

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Thomas’ low-lying street is just one of several in Hillsborough County flooded by the Alafia River. The waterway crested at 24.34 feet on Friday — reaching a major flood stage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Other residents NPR spoke to said the area has never flooded this bad before. Hillsborough County emergency crews rescued more than 500 residents and 100 pets in the flooding aftermath.


Flood waters inundated several areas of Hillsborough County, including Paul Sanders Park in Brandon, Florida.

Flood waters inundated several areas of Hillsborough County, including Paul Sanders Park in Brandon, Fla.

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By Saturday afternoon, some water had receded, but emergency crews and residents still relied on kayaks and boats just to enter the flood zones. NOAA forecasts flooding from the Alafia River to continue in the major or moderate flood stage through early next week.

Thomas is not confident about what remains of her house she’s lived in for two years.

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“There’s no home,” she said, tearing up. “The guy that lives behind me lives in a house that’s between nine and 12 feet high, and he had two feet of water in his house. Mine’s lower than that. Mine only sits three feet above ground.”

She gave effusive thanks to the church for providing much-needed resources.

“They brought us food. They brought water. They brought us everything that they possibly could,” Thomas said.

She found that others in the community have shown up, too. One business loaned her a grill to use and another gave her space to park her car on higher ground when Milton first hit.

“It’s a strong community, and we’ll manage to get through one way or another. Now it’s just a matter of praying,” she said. “That’s all we can do.”

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In a flooded Valrico neighborhood a man waits outside of a home after paddle two others, who entered through the window, up to it.

In a flooded Valrico neighborhood, a man waits outside of a home after paddling two others, who entered through the window, up to it.

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Florida couple in alleged embryo mix-up have identified biological parents of ‘non-caucasian’ baby

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Florida couple in alleged embryo mix-up have identified biological parents of ‘non-caucasian’ baby


A Florida couple who claimed a fertility clinic error led the woman giving birth to a “non-Caucasian child” who was not related to them said they have identified their child’s biological parents, according to reports.

“The results of testing delivered to us today confirm that our baby’s genetic parents have been identified,” Tiffany Score and Steven Mills said in a statement obtained by People on Wednesday.

A Florida couple who claimed a fertility clinic error led to the birth of a “non-Caucasian child” who was not related to them said they have identified their child’s biological parents. Mara Hatfield

Score and Mills filed a lawsuit in January against Fertility Center of Orlando and its head reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, alleging that another patient’s embryo was implanted in Score’s uterus in April 2025.

The mix-up led to the birth of their now 4-month-old daughter, Shea, who is not biologically related to them, the filing alleged.

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“This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved,” the statement continued. “In addition, questions about the disposition of our own embryos are still unanswered and are even more unlikely to ever be answered.”

“Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born —we will love and will be this child’s parents forever.”

The couple added that they will respect the privacy of Shea’s biological parents and will keep their identities “confidential.”

Score and Mills filed a lawsuit in January against Fertility Center of Orlando and its head reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, alleging that another patient’s embryo was implanted in Score’s uterus. WESH2

Score and Mills, who are both white, stored three viable embryos at the Longwood clinic in 2020 for in vitro fertilization, a process that creates embryos and stores them until pregnancy.

Five years later, after an embryo was implanted, the couple gave birth to a “beautiful, healthy female child” on Dec. 11, 2025, according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 22 in Orange County Circuit Court and obtained by Law & Crime.

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“Tragically, while both Jane Doe and John Doe are racially Caucasian, Baby Doe displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,” the lawsuit said.

Further genetic testing confirmed that baby Shea had no biological relationship to either parent — raising questions about where their embryos had gone or whether another woman was impregnated with their biological child.

The new parents had an “intensely strong emotional bond” with their child during pregnancy and wished to keep the girl, but recognized she “should legally and morally be united with her genetic parents so long as they are fit, able and willing to take her,” the lawsuit stated.

The Fertility Clinic of Orlando announced earlier this month that it would close by May 20. WESH2

Scarola told People, following Wednesday’s development, that Shea’s biological parents have not made any requests to take her into custody.

“Remaining questions about the fate of Tiffany and Steven’s unaccounted for embryos…are still pending,” Scarola said.

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“The current legal proceeding will remain open to address those matters,” the attorney added. “However, we expect that we will now also begin to focus on the need for our clients to be compensated for the expenses they have incurred and the severe emotional trauma that they endured and will continue to experience.”

The Fertility Clinic of Orlando announced earlier this month that it would close by May 20 — a decision leadership said was made after “thoughtful consideration.”

Neither Scarola nor the clinic immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.



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Evacuations underway as crews battle multiple wildfires in Georgia and Florida

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Evacuations underway as crews battle multiple wildfires in Georgia and Florida


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Crews in Florida and Georgia are battling multiple fast-moving wildfires, stoked by dry and windy conditions. Local officials in Georgia said people in the path of the flames should be ready to evacuate. 

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Florida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university

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Florida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university


Florida on Tuesday announced a criminal probe into whether artificial intelligence played a role in a deadly mass shooting at a university in the US state.

The decision to launch an investigation came after prosecutors reviewed exchanges between OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT and the suspected gunman, who opened fire at Florida State University last year, according to state Attorney General James Uthmeier.

“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said.

Florida law allows anyone who assists or counsels someone in the commission of a crime to be treated as an “aider and abettor” bearing the same responsibility as the perpetrator, according to Uthmeier.

In exchanges with ChatGPT, the accused shooter sought advice on what type of gun and ammunition to use, as well as where and when on campus a lot of people would likely be found, the state attorney general said during a press briefing.

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“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.



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