Walking along the Fort Myers Yacht Basin in the center of the city, you would never know that several months ago it was littered with boats and destruction—havoc wreaked by Hurricane Ian. The feeling of calm felt almost eerie as I remembered the horrific TV images of months past. Lee County’s Fort Myers and Bonita…

SAN CARLOS ISLAND, Fla.—The sun is sinking into a bruised plum horizon and eastbound traffic is thickening on the Matanzas Pass Bridge as beachgoers head home from Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island before nightfall. “When the sun goes down, the beach shuts down,” said Tina Tomasino, who owns Hurricane Tina’s 5-Star Dive Bar on…

MATLACHA, Fla.—Jeff Funchion sits in a wicker loveseat in the slim shade of a travel trailer with a fan pushing air and carpets unrolled before him on a crushed-shell driveway with a 50-foot long cement pad at the end. He’s waiting for a buyer this Sunday afternoon, hoping someone will come along and purchase his…

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded $100 million to support beach recovery projects in counties hard hit by two hurricanes in 2022. Speaking in Daytona Beach Shores, DeSantis allocated money to 16 counties. The amounts ranged from $37.7 million for Volusia County, hard hit by Category 1 Hurricane Nicole, and $23.1 million for Lee County, the…

Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida, but the state’s labor force stayed strong, Gov. Ron DeSantis reported on Nov. 18 During October, while the national labor force shrank, Florida’s labor force increased by 36,000, and its private sector added 35,000 jobs. This sets a record of 30 straight months that jobs were created throughout the state,…

Sanibel Causeway, which connects Sanibel Island to the Florida mainland, has reopened after undergoing emergency repairs that were prompted by the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced that the emergency repairs were completed in 15 days, which is more than a week ahead of schedule. Hurricane Ian, a category…

Florida has experienced a rise in the number of cases of deadly flesh-eating bacteria following Hurricane Ian and chronic flooding, officials have said. According to the Florida Department of Health, there have been 65 cases of Vibrio vulnificus infection and 11 deaths in the state this year as of Oct. 19. Throughout the entirety of 2021, there…

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Agriculture losses in Florida from Hurricane Ian’s high winds and drenching rains could reach $1.56 billion, with citrus, cattle, vegetable, and melon operations among the hardest hit, the University of Florida reported Tuesday in a preliminary estimate. The school’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences said there could be many impacts that are…

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm. With maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, much was destroyed and many lives were lost. In the aftermath, Floridians share their stories of fear and survival. Monday, Sept. 27 Family and friends used to laugh at Monica Cody. They called her…

In the two days after Hurricane Ian ripped into Florida on Sept. 28, killing at least 119 people and leaving more than $50 billion in insured losses in its wake, none of the state’s 16 Republican congressional representatives and neither of its two U.S. senators voted for a continuing resolution to fund the federal government…