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Associated PressSeptember 18, 2017

Dealing with wrecked belongings and reports of toxic muck, residents of a tiny town where Florida’s Everglades meet the Gulf of Mexico cleared their homes Monday in scorching 92 F (33 C) heat with no air conditioning and no electricity except from a few generators. The isolated Everglades City community of about 400 people suffered […]

Scott PowersSeptember 18, 2017

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson outlined to the U.S. Senate Monday his and U.S. Marco Rubio‘s post-Hurricane Irma tours of Florida describing destruction, tragedy and challenges from the Keys to Jacksonville, and called attention to climate change as a factor. Nelson, a Democrat, on Monday also sent letters to the chief executives of 10 major U.S.-based […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 18, 2017

As the Florida Keys began reopening after Hurricane Irma, returning residents were warned they had to be self-sufficient and had to figure out how to take care of their own needs, fending for themselves without food, water, power or other essential necessities. Enter Farm Share. The Homestead-based nonprofit dispatched two tractor-trailer trucks, carrying 88,000 pounds […]

Associated PressSeptember 18, 2017

Florida’s agriculture commissioner said Monday that the path of Hurricane Irma “could not have been more lethal” to the state’s farmers and that the scope of damage to the state’s fruits and vegetables is unprecedented. Commissioner Adam Putnam, along with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, flew over hundreds of miles of Florida farmland to view […]

Michael MolineSeptember 18, 2017

State regulators have received notice of more than 335,000 insurance claims since Hurricane Irma hit Florida, mostly concentrated in Central and South Florida, with losses nearing $2 billion. The bottom line as of 4 p.m. Sunday was 335,347 claims, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation. Total estimated insurance losses were $1,954,947,889. The data were […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 18, 2017

In the wake of the recent catastrophic storms, like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it is essential we continue to look at all avenues to bolster Florida’s business and economic opportunities that create a robust private market that includes fair and adequate catastrophic insurance coverage. While safety is a No. 1 priority for Floridians, we must […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 18, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott is telling counties affected by Hurricane Irma to get their act together, asking them “to submit detailed debris clean-up plans” by Tuesday. The plans need to go to the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) by noon, the governor said in a statement. “Let me be clear – debris removal is a function […]

Joe HendersonSeptember 18, 2017

Hurricane Irma rammed home the point that Floridians need leaders to provide more than a mop to deal with the damage and misery these mega-storms bring. We just got overwhelmed by a natural disaster that showed again how vulnerable we are. Climate change – yes, deniers, it is real – will likely bring more storms […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 18, 2017

Students who go to school in counties that were hit hard by Hurricane Irma will be getting meals on the federal government’s tab. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Monday announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture accepted his request to allow students in 48 counties subject to a FEMA Major Disaster Declaration to receive free school meals […]

Associated PressSeptember 18, 2017

Florida’s economy has long thrived on one import above all: People. Until Irma struck this month, the state was adding nearly 1,000 residents a day — 333,471 in the past year, akin to absorbing a city the size of St. Louis or Pittsburgh. Every jobseeker, retiree or new birth, along with billions spent by tourists, […]

Tag: Hurricane Irma
Image via AP.

SW Florida residents clear sodden homes in scorching heat

Bill Nelson relates his and Marco Rubio’s Irma trek, cites climate change

Farm Share brings 1 million pounds of food to Irma victims across Florida

Official: ‘Lethal’ Irma a ‘major calamity’ for Florida crops

State: Insurance losses post-Irma near $2 billion

Tom Feeney: Federal tax reform is a critical part of recovery for Florida

Rick Scott to counties: Prioritize your clean-ups

Joe Henderson: Florida’s hard choices after mega-storm

Free meals for Irma kids

Irma’s damage a reminder of Florida economy’s vulnerability