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South Florida reaching out to help Puerto Rico as Fiona brings devastation

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South Florida reaching out to help Puerto Rico as Fiona brings devastation


MIAMI – Hurricane Fiona unleashed extra rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out energy and water to a lot of the island, and Nationwide Guard troops rescued a whole lot of people that received stranded.

The governor warned that it may take days to get the lights again on.

The island is getting assist from South Florida. Three members of the Miami-Dade Hearth Rescue City Search & Rescue workforce, Florida Process Power 1, left for San Juan on Monday, the division mentioned.

A number of Puerto Rican organizations in South Florida met Monday afternoon to determine the best way to assist. They have been reportedly ready on phrase from the governor.

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The blow from Fiona was made extra devastating as a result of Puerto Rico has but to get well from Hurricane Maria, which killed almost 3,000 individuals and destroyed the ability grid in 2017. 5 years later, greater than 3,000 properties on the island are nonetheless coated by blue tarps.

The storm stripped pavement from roads, tore off roofs and despatched torrents pouring into properties. It additionally took out a bridge and flooded two airports.

Authorities reported one dying from the hurricane — a person swept away by a flooded river within the inland city of Comerio.

Puerto Rico officers mentioned it was too early to know the total scope of injury. The storm was nonetheless anticipated to dump as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain in some locations because it spun away from the U.S. territory that’s house to three.2 million individuals.

Miriam Camacho, who lives within the city of Vega Alta, spoke to Native 10 Information in regards to the destruction Monday.

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“All through the island there was mud slides, the rivers overflowing, individuals needing to relocate,” Camacho mentioned. “The island goes via a really powerful time.”

One dying was related to the blackout — a 70-year-old man who was burned to dying after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline whereas it was working, officers mentioned.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi declined to say how lengthy it could take to completely restore electrical energy, however he mentioned for many prospects it could be “a query of days.”

Hurricane Fiona unleashed extra rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out energy and water to a lot of the island, and Nationwide Guard troops rescued a whole lot of people that received stranded.

““Of us are struggling to maintain their drugs refrigerated at this level,” Allison Dworschak, the performing director of Mercy Corps, a world growth company that’s been on the bottom in Puerto Rico since 2017, advised Native 10 Information Monday.

Dworschak mentioned the island will as soon as once more have to begin rebuilding and that features main infrastructure updates.

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“I believe we’ll some classes realized taking part in out,” she mentioned.

For the reason that begin of the storm, Nationwide Guard troops have rescued greater than 900 individuals, Gen. José Reyes advised a information convention.

In the meantime within the Dominican Republic, authorities closed ports and seashores and advised most individuals to remain house from work. The federal government reported one dying from falling timber.

Practically 800 individuals have been evacuated to safer places, and greater than 700 have been in shelters, officers mentioned.

The hurricane left a number of highways blocked, and a vacationer pier within the city of Miches was badly broken by excessive waves. Not less than 4 worldwide airports have been closed, officers mentioned.

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The Dominican president, Luis Abinader, mentioned authorities would wish a number of days to evaluate the storm’s results.

Again in Puerto Rico, the Nationwide Climate Service workplace mentioned flash flooding was occurring in south-central elements of the island and tweeted, “MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!”

As much as 22 inches (56 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas of Puerto Rico and forecasters mentioned one other 4 to eight inches may fall because the storm strikes away, with much more potential in some locations.

“It’s vital individuals perceive that this isn’t over,” mentioned Ernesto Morales, a climate service meteorologist in San Juan.

He mentioned flooding reached “historic ranges,” with authorities evacuating or rescuing a whole lot of individuals throughout Puerto Rico.

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“The damages that we’re seeing are catastrophic,” Pierluisi mentioned.

Water service was reduce to greater than 837,000 prospects — two thirds of the full on the island — due to turbid water at filtration vegetation or lack of energy, officers mentioned.

Earlier than daybreak Monday, authorities in a ship navigated the flooded streets of the north coast city of Catano and used a megaphone to alert those that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as quickly as potential.

Authorities mentioned not less than 1,300 individuals spent the night time in shelters throughout the island.

Brown water poured into streets and houses and closed airports in Ponce and Mayaguez.

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The system additionally ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge within the central mountain city of Utuado that police mentioned was put in by the Nationwide Guard after Maria hit as a Class 4 storm.

Fiona additionally tore the roofs off properties, together with that of Nelson Cirino within the northern coastal city of Loiza.

“I used to be sleeping and noticed when the corrugated metallic flew off,” he mentioned as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colourful curtains into the air.

By early afternoon, Fiona had moved into the open Atlantic, the place it was projected to strengthen, based on the Nationwide Hurricane Heart. It was not anticipated to threaten the U.S. mainland.

At 2 p.m. Monday, it was centered about 165 miles (270 kilometers) southeast of Grand Turk Island and was heading northwest at 9 mph (15 kph), with most sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph).

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Tropical storm-force winds prolonged for 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the middle.

U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency as the attention of the storm approached the island’s southwest nook.

Puerto Rico’s well being facilities have been working on mills, and a few of these failed. Well being Secretary Carlos Mellado mentioned crews rushed to restore mills on the Complete Most cancers Heart, the place a number of sufferers needed to be evacuated.

Fiona beforehand battered the jap Caribbean, killing one man within the French territory of Guadeloupe when floodwaters washed his house away, officers mentioned.

The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Class 3 storm.

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___

Coto reported from Havana.

Copyright 2022 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved. The Related Press contributed to this report.



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The Supreme Court keeps on hold efforts in Texas and Florida to regulate social media platforms

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The Supreme Court keeps on hold efforts in Texas and Florida to regulate social media platforms


The Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users.

The justices returned the cases to lower courts in challenges from trade associations for the companies.

While the details vary, both laws aimed to address conservative complaints that the social media companies were liberal-leaning and censored users based on their viewpoints, especially on the political right. The cases are among several this term in which the justices are wrestling with standards for free speech in the digital age.

The Florida and Texas laws were signed by Republican governors in the months following decisions by Facebook and Twitter, now X, to cut then-President Donald Trump off over his posts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

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Trade associations representing the companies sued in federal court, claiming that the laws violated the platforms’ speech rights. One federal appeals court struck down Florida’s statute, while another upheld the Texas law. But both were on hold pending the outcome at the Supreme Court.

In a statement when he signed the Florida measure into law, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it would be “protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”

When Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas law, he said it was needed to protect free speech in what he termed the new public square. Social media platforms “are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely — but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas,” Abbott said. “That is wrong, and we will not allow it in Texas.”

But much has changed since then. Elon Musk purchased Twitter and, besides changing its name, eliminated teams focused on content moderation, welcomed back many users previously banned for hate speech and used the site to spread conspiracy theories.



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Florida housing market ‘at risk’ in 13 different cities

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Florida housing market ‘at risk’ in 13 different cities


Thirteen out of the 15 housing markets at the highest risk of a home price correction in the coming months, according to a recent Parcl Labs study, are in Florida, where new inventory has been flooding in.

The Parcl Labs’ team, which delivers real-time housing market data, analytics and research, analyzed around 1,000 U.S. housing markets to identify early signs of market stress that could lead to price drops. It found that there’s “trouble” ahead for the Sunshine State, which it described as “the epicenter” of a mismatch between supply and demand.

The top five list of markets with the biggest supply and demand divergence—one of the factors considered in Parcl Labs’ analysis, are in Florida—namely, Pensacola (+52 percent supply increase, -28 percent demand decrease); North Port, FL (+50 percent, -18 percent); Naples (+44 percent, -14 percent); Port St. Lucie (+40 percent, -22 percent); and Palm Bay (+39 percent, -18 percent).

Four of the top five markets expected to see the biggest price drops in the months ahead—though any decline isn’t guaranteed—are also in the state. These include some of the same metropolitan areas which are seeing demand drop, such as North Port (52 percent of listings with price cuts); Tampa (49 percent); Naples (46 percent); and Palm Bay (44 percent). Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was also in the top five with an expected 46 percent with price cuts.

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Homes are shown in a residential neighborhood in Miami on May 10, 2022. Florida is “the epicenter” of a mismatch between supply and demand, according to a recent study.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Several markets in Florida have already seen dramatic price cuts since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, which saw the U.S. housing market boom as low mortgage rates, high demand and a lack of supply led aspiring home buyers to cutthroat bidding wars.

In Florida, the widespread possibility of remote work led to an influx of people moving from out of state chasing warm weather, sunny skies and cheaper taxes. The end of the health emergency and businesses’ eagerness to get their workers back in the office meant a sudden slowdown in arrivals, as well as the departure of some of those who had already migrated to the Sunshine State.

In Lakeland, according to Parcl Labs’ data, prices are now -4.63 percent from their peak in 2020. They increased by 51.36 percent in 2020. In Sebastian, they’re down -4.14 percent from their peak of +61.43 ; in Gainesville, by 2.28% from +50.21 percent. Deltona, Homosassa Springs, Tampa, Ocala, Port St. Lucie, Miami and Orlando have also seen prices cool down from their pandemic peaks.

Inventory has been growing at a faster pace in the state than in the rest of the country. Florida, together with Texas, is among the states that has been building the most new homes in the past few years, trying to fill the gap between demand and inventory which marked the pandemic. But now, as mortgage rates remain high and home insurance premiums in the Sunshine State inflate, buyers are a little more reluctant.

Newsweek contacted Parcl Labs for comment by email early on Monday.

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The 15 metropolitan areas which are most likely to see home price drops, according to Parcl Labs, are:

  • Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida;
  • Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama;
  • Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida;
  • Gainesville, Florida;
  • Homosassa Springs, Florida;
  • Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida;
  • Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida;
  • Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina;
  • Naples-Marco Island, Florida;
  • Ocala, Florida;
  • Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida;
  • Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida;
  • Port St. Lucie, Florida;
  • Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida;
  • Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.



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Florida State Football Recruiting: Blue chip safety Zae Thomas commits

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Florida State Football Recruiting: Blue chip safety Zae Thomas commits


Florida State has landed another verbal commitment for #Tribe25, and this one is from a true Seminole in every sense of the word.

Gregory “Zae” Thomas is a 6’2”, 190 pound defensive back who plays for American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is currently ranked as the 292nd best player in the nation by 247Sports Composite (25th best safety, 42nd best player in FL).

Thomas chose the Seminoles over 30 other offers from the likes of the Clemson Tigers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Oklahoma Sooners, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies, UCF Golden Knights, and Wisconsin Badgers.

Back in the names to know and visitor preview articles that mentioned him, I wrote that I believe Zae Thomas is simply destined to play for Florida State. He checks some amazing boxes. Thomas has Seminole Tribe heritage. He plays for the high school where DBs coach Pat Surtain held his first head coaching position, overlapping with Surtain for a year. He is the rare defensive back who loves to tackle and he has the positional flexibility and size that Surtain and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller love.

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In an otherwise middling DB cycle, Thomas is a bright spot with a very high ceiling- I’d easily have him ranked as a top 150 player nationally. He does an excellent job mirroring receivers in coverage and has no issues jamming at the line. I would expect him to be a regular on special teams and as he learns the playbook, I think he’ll enter the mix in either the corner or safety rotation sooner than later.

Check out Tomahawk Nation’s most recent Official Recruiting and Transfer Portal Thread to interact with the Three Stars and for more information about FSU recruiting.



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