Florida

Multiple Tornadoes Cause Heavy Damage Across Florida Panhandle – Florida Daily

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2024

Multiple Tornadoes Cause Heavy Damage Across Florida Panhandle – Florida Daily

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Tornadoes and severe storms wreaked havoc across Florida’s Panhandle on Tuesday, destroying homes and businesses in towns including Panama City Beach and other areas of Bay County and other towns across the region. State and county officials are estimating the damage.

Two rounds of severe weather struck Bay County throughout the morning on Tuesday. According to county officials, at least five local people were injured during the storm, while 100 people were displaced, and approximately 1,400 households were without power. On Tuesday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that approximately 87,700 residents reported that they were without electric power.

Selecia Bowser, an NWS meteorologist, told the Panama City News Herald that the agency has received reports of tornadoes in Bay County, and that crews will be sent to the areas to survey damage and make determinations.

“That’s where we’ll be able to do a damage assessment and look and see what we’re looking at, as far as structural damage (and) tree damage,” Bowser said. “Then we’ll be able to make a final conclusion.”

Below is a list of updates provided by Gov. DeSantis’ office:

State Response Efforts

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) is leading the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) for the multi-hazard severe weather event.
The SEOC has been activated to a Level 1 with all Emergency Support Functions (ESF’s) present and coordinating.
The SERT is hosting twice daily calls with all county emergency management offices to address any reported unmet needs.
For information on school closures, road closures, and other vital updates, visit FloridaDisaster.org/StormInfo.
The Florida State Guard was activated by the Governor to support preparation and response efforts in coordination with the Florida Division of Emergency Management and other state partners. The activation of the following volunteers and resources has been initiated:
- A logistics team deployed to Camp Blanding Joint Training Center (CBJTC) within six hours of activation to pre-stage vehicles and prepare route clearance equipment and recovery supplies.
- 31 soldiers are staged and will deploy to assist with damage assessments and other missions as requested. Additional soldiers are on standby to assist impacted counties with distributed logistics as needed.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is actively coordinating with local law enforcement agencies to address unmet needs as a result of the severe weather event.
FDLE has prepared a mobile command vehicle, command post and sleeping unit ready for deployment.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) distributed instructions to vessel owners in the projected path of the storm to secure their boats ahead of severe weather.
FWC officers throughout North Florida have transitioned to an increased state of readiness to respond to wind-damaged areas or high-water events.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is prepared to provide assistance to drinking water, wastewater and hazardous waste facilities affected by today’s severe weather.
DEP is prepared to conduct post-storm beach surveys to determine impacts to shorelines and erosion, as well as inspect damage to beach projects.
State parks in the Florida Panhandle have delayed opening and will resume normal operations as weather permits. Visitors are encouraged to visit FloridaStateParks.org to check the status of individual parks.

Health and Human Services

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Calhoun County and Liberty County have prepared to open Special Needs Shelters if needed.
The following County Health Departments Offices are closed on Tuesday, January 9, 2024: Leon County, Franklin County, Wakulla County, Gadsden County, Gulf County, Madison County and Duval County. DOH will provide updates regarding reopenings and service availability as this information becomes available.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clients have been contacted regarding access to remote services due to closures or limited operations in the following counties: Santa Rosa County, Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Franklin County, Wakulla County, Jefferson County, Madison County, Taylor County, Leon County, Bay County and Gulf County.
The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has remained in contact with hospitals and health care facilities in the impacted areas.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD), is continuing to work to contact clients, providers and partners to determine safety and wellbeing and assess unmet needs.
The Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) Area Agencies on Aging are monitoring the severe weather.
- The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas shared emergency information with their local aging network and asked to be notified if any unmet needs arise.

Infrastructure, Roads, State Closures and Outages

Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) maintenance crews have cleared downed trees along State Road 285 in Okaloosa County, State Road 69 in Jackson County, and US 90 in Leon County.
In Tampa, the Howard Frankland construction barges have been secured for potential wind and wave impacts.
FDOT crews engaged in pre-storm preparations, which include checking roadways for potential drainage concerns, placing additional team members on standby, securing operations yards and staging equipment as needed across the state.
As conditions are rapidly changing, please refer to FL511.com for real-time road and bridge closures.
The Florida Department of Education is consistently updating its website with school district closures, as well as State University System and Florida College System Closures.

Resources for Employees and Businesses

Florida Commerce has activated the Florida Private Sector Hotline (850-815-4925). Inquiries may also be emailed to ESF18@em.myflorida.com.
Today, FloridaCommerce and the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) activated the Business Damage Assessment Survey in response to January severe weather. Businesses can complete the survey online by visiting www.FloridaDisaster.biz and selecting “January Severe Weather” from the dropdown menu.

Closures

CareerSource Closures
- CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion
- CareerSource Capital Region
- CareerSource Gulf Coast
- CareerSource Chipola
- CareerSource Okaloosa Walton
- CareerSource Escarosa

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has suspended certain provisions of section 489.113(3), Florida Statutes to allow certified or registered general, building, or residential contractors to subcontract roofing work for the repair or installation of any roof type in listed counties:
- Registered contractors are not subject to geographic scope limitations or requirements in section 489.513(5), Florida Statutes, when providing services in listed counties, subject to additional requirements outlined in the emergency order.
- Registered contractors are required to provide their state registration, proof of compliance with applicable workers’ compensation, and liability and property damage insurance to the jurisdiction in which the work is being performed.
DBPR encourages Florida’s licensed contractors who are looking to help property owners in need of post-storm construction-related services to register with its Florida Disaster Contractors Network at DCNOnline.org. Once homeowners are safely able to assess their home repair needs, DBPR encourages them to log onto DCNOnline.org and search by county for a list of Florida-licensed contractors providing these services in their community.
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) is in close communication with law enforcement and transportation partners and stands ready to assist for potential storm impacts.

- The Florida Highway Patrol is prepared to implement altered shifts in preparation for any potential storm response.
- The Florida Highway Patrol is monitoring bridges and prepared to close certain bridges in the event of dangerous conditions.

Follow @FLSERT and @GovRonDeSantis on X, formerly known as Twitter, for live updates. Visit FloridaDisaster.org/ for more information.

Florida Daily offers news, insights and analysis as we cover the most important issues in the state, from education, to business and politics.

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Florida

Jury selection continues in fatal boat crash trial of South Florida real estate mogul George Pino

Published

9 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Jury selection continues in fatal boat crash trial of South Florida real estate mogul George Pino

MIAMI — A new group of prospective jurors was questioned Tuesday in the trial of South Florida real estate mogul George Pino, who is charged in connection with a 2022 boat crash that killed a teenager in Miami-Dade County.

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During jury selection in a Miami-Dade courtroom, Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez asked potential jurors what they already knew about the case and whether they had recently seen or heard anything about it.

Several prospective jurors said they knew only basic details, including that a fatal boating crash occurred and that a teenage girl died. Others said they recalled media reports that alcohol may have been involved.

As questioning continued, some prospective jurors disclosed connections to schools and communities tied to the case.

Passengers aboard Pino’s boat included his wife, his teenage daughter and 11 of her friends, many of whom attended private schools in Miami-Dade County.

One prospective juror said they graduated from a local private school around the time of the crash and were familiar with some of the students involved.

Another said references to schools and witnesses brought back memories of seeing posts and articles about the incident shared on social media.

A third said their child participates in youth sports with students from schools connected to the case.

Investigators said the boat struck a channel marker while returning from an outing on Biscayne Bay. Seventeen-year-old Lourdes Academy student Lucy Fernandez drowned after the crash.

Tinkler Mendez also addressed concerns that a prospective juror had been viewing a news report about the case on a cellphone while waiting outside the courtroom.

Another prospective juror reported hearing the report but said it was not loud enough for everyone in the area to hear.

Tinkler Mendez reminded prospective jurors to avoid news coverage and social media discussions related to the case as jury selection continues.

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Florida

Man who killed his girlfriend’s baby is set to be Florida’s eighth execution of 2026

Published

19 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Man who killed his girlfriend’s baby is set to be Florida’s eighth execution of 2026

STARKE, Fla. — A Florida man who confessed to killing his girlfriend’s infant daughter and throwing her body in a pond three decades ago is set to be executed Tuesday evening.

Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in 1997 for the death a year earlier of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw.

This would be Florida’s eighth execution so far this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

According to court records, Lukehart was watching his girlfriend’s baby in February 1996 while his girlfriend was caring for her older daughter, who had been ill. At some point, the girlfriend said Lukehart drove away from their Jacksonville home, and she couldn’t find baby Gabrielle. Lukehart called his girlfriend about 30 minutes later and told her to call police because the baby had been kidnapped and he was chasing the kidnapper.

Later that evening, Lukehart was found in a neighboring county after driving his car off the road. During questioning the next day, Lukehart told investigators that Gabrielle died after he dropped the baby on her head and then shook her. He told police that he panicked and threw the baby in a pond. Law enforcement officers searched the pond and found the child’s body.

The Florida Supreme Court denied Lukehart’s appeals last week. His attorneys had claimed that medication he was taking for kidney disease could have a negative reaction with the lethal injection drugs. They also argued that having only a month between the signing of Lukehart’s death warrant and the execution deprived him of his due process.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Lukehart’s final appeal on Monday.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.

Another execution is planned in Florida later this month. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

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Florida

Florida just wasted a silver-platter path to Super Regionals and beyond

Published

1 day ago

June 1, 2026

Press Room

Florida just wasted a silver-platter path to Super Regionals and beyond

Heading into Sunday afternoon, everything was set up for Florida on a silver platter to not only advance out of Regionals, but to also waltz straight to Omaha. The Gators had their pitching staff in good shape, the bats were hot, and it looked like all the early-season woes would become a footnote in history.

Fast forward a little over 24 hours, and Florida’s season is done after a collapse by its pitching staff, combined with a couple of questionable decisions by Kevin O’Sullivan, along with Florida hitters who just couldn’t solve Troy on Monday night.

Florida loses to Troy and has its season end

O’Sullivan opted to start Cooper Walls, who began the year as the Sunday starter but quickly lost that job and was relegated to jumping back and forth between starting in the midweek and coming out of the bullpen.

It didn’t go well for Walls as he was immediately tagged for two runs in the first inning and pulled for Caden McDonald in the second.

But McDonald settled things down and gave Florida more than a fair shot to take control of the game. And while the Gators had some decent swings here and there, it was clear that they couldn’t catch up to the fastball with any consistency.

Mind you, it was a fastball from Troy that was hovering around 90 MPH, not some 97 MPH flamethrower or frankly someone throwing random junk Florida couldn’t figure out. And the problem for Florida is that even when it did something right, it combined it with something wrong. Kyle Jones hit a RBI single to pull things to 2-1, but got thrown out at second base in the process.

Then came the decision from O’Sullivan in the sixth inning that ultimately sent the game south. McDonald was cruising and was nearing 50 pitches for his outing. Given he had also thrown 26 pitches against Rider on Friday, one could argue O’Sullivan was trying to protect his arm.

So out came Russell Sandefer, who was the starter against Rider. He promptly walked three straight batters.

And in the decision that ultimately swung the game, O’Sullivan went with Ernesto Lugo-Canchola out of the bullpen with bases loaded and no outs. This was after Lugo-Canchola gave up two runs last night against Troy. Five runs later, three of which were charged to Sandefer, it was 7-1, and that was that.

Wasted opportunity for Florida

It’s the first time in program history that Florida started a Regional 2-0 and didn’t make it out to Super Regionals. And what ultimately ended Florida’s season was the inability of anyone on Florida’s staff not named McDonald or Jackson Barberi to get through their outing clean this weekend.

Liam Peterson was shelled on Sunday.

Walls and Lugo-Canchola were hand-picked from the transfer portal ahead of this season and were shelled on Monday night.

The reality is that O’Sullivan pushed all the wrong buttons on Monday. He went to Sandefer hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, and it didn’t work. He went to Lugo-Canchola even after he got tagged last night, while Joshua Whritenour was “saved” for later. In addition, guys like Ricky Reeth and Luke McNeillie were sitting right there after not pitching on Sunday.

And again, whatever approach Florida’s hitters had on Monday was also an issue, as they couldn’t catch up to a 90 MPH fastball. For good measure, all the defensive woes that plagued Florida to start the season also came flooding back.

Florida ends its season 41-21.

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