Latest Florida News

Helene’s powerful storm surge killed 12 near Tampa. They didn't have to die

Oct. 04, 2024 12:39 PM EDT

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Aiden Bowles was stubborn, so even as Florida officials told residents of the barrier island north of St. Petersburg that Hurricane Helene's storm surge could be deadly, the retired restaurant owner stayed put. Caregiver Amanda Normand begged the...

Chief operating officer of Truth Social's parent company resigns

Oct. 04, 2024 08:25 AM EDT

The chief operating officer of Truth Social's parent company has resigned and the company must hand over almost 800,000 shares to one of its investors as part of a court ruling, according to a regulatory filing. COO Andrew Northwall resigned from Trump Media & Technology Group...

Abortion-rights groups are outraising opponents 8-to-1 on November ballot measures

Oct. 04, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

Abortion-rights ballot measure supporters across the country have raised nearly eight times as much as groups campaigning against the amendments on the November ballots. But that advantage may not translate into a huge benefit down the stretch in Florida, the most expensive of the nine statewide...

Soul-searching and regret over unheeded warnings follow Helene's destruction

Oct. 03, 2024 20:43 PM EDT

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Before Hurricane Helene’s landfall last week, the National Weather Service began an all-out blitz to alert emergency planners, first responders and residents across the Southeast that the storm’s heavy rains and high winds could bring disaster hundreds of miles from the...

The search for the missing hits snags at every corner as Helene's death toll tops 200

Oct. 03, 2024 18:46 PM EDT

PENSACOLA, N.C. (AP) — Rescue crews and volunteers facing obstacles at every turn in North Carolina’s remote mountains paddled canoes across swollen rivers and steered horses past mudslides in the rush to reach those stranded or missing by Hurricane Helene’s rampage that killed more than 200...

UCF's KJ Jefferson has a chance to beat Florida in the Swamp in consecutive years

Oct. 03, 2024 13:57 PM EDT

UCF (3-1) at Florida (2-2), Saturday, 7:45 p.m. ET (SEC Network) BetMGM College Football Odds: UCF by 2½. Series record: Florida leads 2-1. WHAT'S AT STAKE? UCF could turn the Sunshine State’s Big Three into the Big Four with a victory...

Clemson a heavy favorite to give Dabo Swinney record-breaking win in rivalry game with Florida St.

Oct. 03, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

No. 15 Clemson (3-1, 2-0 ACC) at Florida State (1-4, 1-3), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN) BetMGM College Football Odds: Clemson by 14 1/2. Series record: Florida State 21-15. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Clemson seeks a fourth straight win and third...

Florida communities hit three times by hurricanes grapple with how and whether to rebuild

Oct. 03, 2024 09:12 AM EDT

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was just a month ago that Brooke Hiers left the state-issued emergency trailer where her family had lived since Hurricane Idalia slammed into her Gulf Coast fishing village of Horseshoe Beach in August 2023. Hiers and her husband Clint were still...

Southerners stay in touch the old-fashioned way after Helene cuts roads, power, phones

Oct. 02, 2024 22:16 PM EDT

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Isolated and without electricity or phone service since Hurricane Helene inflicted devastation across the Southeast nearly a week ago, residents in the mountains of western North Carolina are relying on old-fashioned ways of communicating and coping. At the...

Hurricane Helene victims include young siblings killed by falling tree as they slept

Oct. 02, 2024 15:33 PM EDT

Falling trees and raging floods from Hurricane Helene killed more than 150 people when it struck Florida late last week and then plowed through the Southeast as one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. People died in six states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina,...