Florida

Helene makes landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane

Published

3 months ago

September 27, 2024

Helene makes landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern U.S. There were at least three storm-related deaths.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Helene roared ashore around 11:10 p.m. Thursday near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph (225 kph). That location was only about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.

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Helene prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, more than 190,000 in Georgia and more than 30,000 in the Carolinas, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. The governors of those states and Alabama and Virginia all declared emergencies.

One person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car and two people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached.

“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where very likely there’s been additional loss of life and certainly there’s going to be loss of property,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday night.

Helene was moving rapidly inland after making landfall, with the center of the storm set to race from southern to northern Georgia through early Friday morning. The risk of tornadoes also would continue overnight and into the morning across north and central Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina, forecasters said. Later Friday, there would be the risk of tornadoes in Virginia.

“Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are now pushing into southern Georgia,” the hurricane center said in an update at 1 a.m. Friday. “Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”

The hurricane’s eye passed near Valdosta, Georgia, as the storm churned rapidly north into Georgia Thursday night. The National Hurricane Center issued an extreme wind warning for the area, meaning possible hurricane-force winds exceeding 115 mph (185 kph).

Flooded streets after the Hurricane Helene are seen in Madeira Beach, Fla.,Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

At a hotel in the city of 55,000 near the Florida line, dozens of people huddled in the darkened lobby after midnight Friday as winds whistled and howled outside. Electricity was out, with hall emergency lights, flashlights and cellphones providing the only illumination. Water dripped from light fixtures in the lobby dining area and roof debris fell to the ground outside.

Fermin Herrera, 20, his wife and their 2-month-old daughter left their room on the top floor of the hotel, where they took shelter because they were concerned about trees falling on their Valdosta home.

“We heard some rumbling,” said Herrera, cradling the sleeping baby in a downstairs hallway. “We didn’t see anything at first. After a while the intensity picked up. It looked like a gutter that was banging against our window. So we made a decision to leave.”

Helene is the third storm to strike the city in just over a year. Tropical Storm Debby blacked out power to thousands in August, while Hurricane Idalia damaged an estimated 1,000 homes in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County a year ago.

“I feel like a lot of us know what to do now,” Herrera said. “We’ve seen some storms and grown some thicker skins.”

Even before landfall, the storm’s wrath was felt widely, with sustained tropical storm-force winds and hurricane-force gusts along Florida’s west coast. Water lapped over a road in Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St. Pete Beach. Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago crashed ashore in the rising water.

Beyond Florida, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains, with up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) more possible before the deluge ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything seen in the past century.

Heavy rains began falling and winds were picking up earlier Thursday in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line. The weather service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see hurricane-force winds exceeding 110 mph (177 kph).

In south Georgia, two people were killed when a possible tornado struck a mobile home on Thursday night, Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon told WMAZ-TV. Wheeler County is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southeast of Macon.

The storm made landfall in the sparsely-populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet.

“Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County warned those who chose not to evacuate in a Facebook post, the dire advice similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanes.

Still, Philip Tooke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region’s Apalachee Bay, planned to ride out this storm like he did during Hurricane Michael and the others — on his boat. “If I lose that, I don’t have anything,” Tooke said. Michael, a Category 5 storm, all but destroyed one town, fractured thousands of homes and businesses and caused some $25 billion in damage when it struck the Florida Panhandle in 2018.

Many, though, were heeding the mandatory evacuation orders that stretched from the Panhandle south along the Gulf Coast in low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.

Among them were Cindy Waymon and her husband, who went to a shelter in Tallahassee after securing their home and packing medications, snacks and drinks. They wanted to stay safe given the magnitude of the storm, she said.

“This is the first time we’ve actually come to a shelter, because of the complexities of the storm and the uncertainties,” she said.

Federal authorities staged search-and-rescue teams as the weather service forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Apalachee Bay.

“Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!” the office said, describing the surge scenario as “a nightmare.”

This stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialization that dominates so many of Florida’s beach communities. The region is loved for its natural wonders including the vast stretches of salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands.

“You live down here, you run the risk of losing everything to a bad storm,” said Anthony Godwin, who lives about a half-mile (800 meters) from the water in the coastal town of Panacea, as he stopped for gas before heading west toward his sister’s house in Pensacola.

School districts and multiple universities canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while cancellations were widespread elsewhere in Florida and beyond.

While Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain were expected to extend to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where landslides were possible, forecasters said. Tennessee was among the states expected to get drenched.

Helene had swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it brushed past the island.

Areas 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line expected hurricane conditions. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Overnight curfews were imposed in many cities and counties in south Georgia.

“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said.

For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.

___

Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York, Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Andrea Rodríguez in Havana, Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.

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State Your Case: Do Panthers or Lightning own state of Florida? | NHL.com

Published

5 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

State Your Case: Do Panthers or Lightning own state of Florida? | NHL.com

There are two NHL teams in Florida: the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They are separated by about 250 miles and have been fierce rivals since the Panthers joined the NHL for the 1993-94 season. The Lightning joined the League a season earlier.

Florida (21-11-2) and Tampa Bay (18-10-2) meet for the first time this season at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, CRIPPS, SN, TVAS).

The teams have played each other 157 times in the regular season; the Panthers have gone 77-51-19, and the Lightning are 70-64-13. There have been 10 ties.

For years, the rivalry was a parochial affair, deeply important to hockey fans in the state but under the radar nationally. Lately, though, Florida supremacy has often meant NHL supremacy.

The Panthers are the reigning Stanley Cup champions and defeated the Lightning in five games in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round last season to start that title march. They reached the Stanley Cup Final two seasons ago, going on a miracle run before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights. The season before that, they won the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-best 122 points but lost to the Lightning in a second-round sweep, marking the second straight time that their noisy neighbors ended their season.

The Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 before reaching a third straight Final in 2022, losing to the Colorado Avalanche. Tampa Bay won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2018-19.

This season, each team is on course for another appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and has a point percentage of better than .600.

So which team has the merits to claim bragging rights in this all-Florida showdown as the rivals face off for the first time this season? That’s the question debated by NHL.com senior writers Amalie Benjamin and Dan Rosen in the latest installment of State Your Case.

Benjamin: Let’s lay out what the Lightning have accomplished in their 32-season history: They’ve won the Stanley Cup three times, becoming the first team from Florida to win it when they took the championship in 2004. But that doesn’t come close to what they’ve accomplished during the past 11 seasons, starting in 2013-14, when they became a powerhouse. They’ve been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 10 times in those 11 seasons, making the Stanley Cup Final in a whopping four of them. Let me repeat that: Four trips to the Cup Final in the past 11 seasons, winning twice, in 2020 and 2021. And if that’s not enough, they made two more trips to the Eastern Conference Final, in 2016 and 2018. Forget Florida’s team. They’re the team of the past decade in the entire NHL.

Rosen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what have you done for me lately? Florida’s team fluctuates. It was the Lightning. It is the Panthers. They’ve got the Stanley Cup. They went to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. Sure, a few years ago, this wasn’t even a debate. Florida’s team, the Panthers? Please. No shot. Even the top executives with the Panthers would tell you that. But things change. With success come the riches. Just think about the past three seasons for the Panthers: Presidents’ Trophy winners in 2021-22, Stanley Cup Final in 2022-23, Stanley Cup champions in 2023-24. The Lightning lost in the 2022 Cup Final, lost in the first round in six games the next season and lost in the first round in five games to the Panthers last season. Florida’s team is Florida.

Benjamin: OK, sure, you have a point. Florida has done pretty darn well lately. But let’s see how history will judge the state of Florida and its hockey teams. Hall of Famers? The Lightning have got ’em. Though Steven Stamkos has moved on to the Nashville Predators, the Hall of Fame is going to come calling, and the forward will go in as a member of the Lightning. Add in coach Jon Cooper, forward Nikita Kucherov, defenseman Victor Hedman and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, and you’re talking at least five future Hall of Famers on a single team. That’s not just good, that’s historically good. It’s a group whose names are synonymous with winning, with the Stanley Cup, with the state of Florida. That’s powerful. That says the Lightning win this debate, no question.

Rosen: I have a question. Is Aleksander Barkov not paving his way to the Hall of Fame? Is Sergei Bobrovsky, with a Stanley Cup ring, 400-plus wins and two Vezina Trophy wins as the NHL’s best goalie, not a lock for the Hall of Fame? Is Paul Maurice, who could finish his career with at least the second-most coaching wins of all time, along with his Stanley Cup ring, not also a lock for the Hall of Fame? In the way-too-early department, could Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart be future Hall of Famers? I lied. That’s four questions. But you get the point. You brought up the Hall of Fame and I countered. That’s why the Lightning do not win this debate without question. Could they win it? Yes, certainly, if we were having this debate in 2023. It’s almost 2025. It’s a different world. It’s the Panthers’ world, at least in Florida. The Lightning are just living in it. At least the sun is still shining on them too.

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State attorney says JEA board did not violate Florida’s Sunshine Law

Published

13 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

State attorney says JEA board did not violate Florida’s Sunshine Law

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The state attorney for northeast Florida said there’s no evidence that members of the JEA board violated Florida’s “Sunshine Law” with discussions surrounding the resignation and replacement of former CEO Jay Stowe.

A source said JEA leaders met at an Avondale coffee shop to discuss the CEO stepping down. It sparked an investigation

In May, a JEA employee filed a complaint with the city’s inspector general prompting the investigation.

The Sunshine Law requires that public business be conducted at publicly-noticed meetings.

In October, the inspector general found that some board members did talk business outside of the meetings but the report made no determination on whether the Sunshine Law was violated and referred the matter to the State Attorney’s Office.

The state attorney’s office conducted its own investigation and said the allegations were “unwarranted and unfounded.”

DOCUMENT: State attorney’s report on JEA Sunshine Law investigation

It said the outside conversations did not involve JEA board business or were not covered by the Sunshine Law. The report also said that even if there had been evidence of a Sunshine Law violation, the fact that the decision to appoint Vickie Cavey as interim, and later permanent, managing director and CEO were made during public meetings would have resolved any purported violation.

Cavey responded to the investigation.

“JEA appreciates the thorough investigation by the State Attorney’s Office,” Cavey said. “The JEA Board recognizes the importance of the Sunshine Law and its obligations to comply. The report determined JEA board members complied with the law and that no criminal conduct occurred. The baseless allegations by a former employee cast a shadow over the good work our board and more than 2,200 employees do each and every day delivering foundational services to Northeast Florida. Maintaining the trust of our community is of utmost importance and this report could not have provided a clearer vindication.”

Board Chair Joseph DiSalvo made this statement in response to the report.

“On behalf of the board of directors, we appreciate the diligent work of the State Attorney’s Office. I think it is important to note their findings reinforce the fact that each member on the JEA Board of Directors fully embrace transparency and Sunshine Law compliance and our commitment to remain above reproach when it comes to ethics and integrity,” DiSalvo said.

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Florida Gators Edge Scheduled to Visit SEC Rival

Published

21 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Florida Gators Edge Scheduled to Visit SEC Rival

The Florida Gators look to be losing edge rusher TJ Searcy to the transfer portal after he played two seasons in Gainesville. Searcy may not move too far away as he is reportedly visiting the Auburn Tigers this weekend.

READ MORE: DJ Lagway wins the Gasparilla Bowl MVP

Searcy’s 247Sports transfer portal ranking comes in at No. 90 overall and 12th edge. Evaluating his accomplishments for the orange and blue, he’s clearly a quality player. Still, the Gators should not be overly concerned about losing Searcy and here are two reasons why.

First, the Gators are working with extensive NIL money. According to Saturday Down South’s Neil Blackmon, the buyout money once set aside to replace Billy Napier will go toward improving the Florida football roster, as his quote defines.

“Multiple sources close to the program told SDS that part of the logic in retaining Napier for 2025, as opposed to paying his $26.5-million buyout, half of which would have been due up front, was to use money raised for the buyout in the NIL space this offseason.”

Second, keep in mind that the teams currently competing in the College Football Playoff will see several players enter the transfer portal after their seasons conclude. Thus, even if the Gators do not find Searcy’s replacement from the current crop of players available, more talent will become available.

Third, prior to winning his fourth game in a row to close the season, head coach Billy Napier hinted that the Gators felt pretty good at edge and could still make additions.

“Wish TJ nothing by the best,” said Napier. “And maybe we’re not done there. We’ll see. But just think it’s a product of the world we’re living in, right? So, TJ has done a great job for us. It’s been a productive player. He’s done a good job off the field. Really grown up a lot. Proud of him, nothing but respectful.”

In the end, Florida loses a quality player in Searcy, but it will not be the Gators’ undoing and a comparable replacement should be coming to Gainesville.

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