Milton strengthens to Category 5, winds at 180 mphCity of Cape Coral isn’t offering sandbags, but one Cape Coral local is
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral isn’t offering sandbags, but one Cape Coral local is One Cape Coral resident saw a need during Hurricane Milton and decided to do something about it.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach braces for Hurricane Milton after Helene WINK News’ team coverage brings us to Fort Myers Beach, an area prone to storm surge and still recovering from Helene.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral holds press conference; here are 10 takeaways Cape Coral held a press conference Monday morning to discuss Hurricane Milton. Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter says storm surge is the biggest threat of Hurricane Milton to the city. His message to his neighbors Monday morning is to make a plan and execute it now.
NORTH FORT MYERS Charlotte County man prepares what he can ahead of Milton Hurricane Helene ravaged many homes in Charlotte County, and now locals are getting ready for a potentially stronger Hurricane Milton.
SWFL Florida evacuation orders ahead of Milton There are now mandatory evacuation orders for some barrier islands in Southwest Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton.
What’s open and closed as Hurricane Milton looms As Hurricane Milton strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico, services and businesses in Southwest Florida are adjusting their hours or closing temporarily.
Punta Gorda residents, businesses brace for Hurricane Milton With Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall somewhere along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Oct. 9, some Punta Gorda hotels stopped taking reservations, flight disruptions are expected and residents and business owners spent Oct. 7 prepping.
Lee County coastal businesses evacuate merchandise as Hurricane Milton approaches As Hurricane Milton began making its way across the Gulf of Mexico to a precise destination yet unknown on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Lee County business owners on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and other coastal areas weren’t waiting around to find out.
WINK NEWS List of shelters in SWFL ahead of Milton As Hurricane Milton approaches, shelters are opening across Southwest Florida to provide safety and refuge for residents.
Know your zone: Evacuation zones ahead of Milton As Hurricane Milton approaches, get familiar with your evacuation zone.
SWFL schools affected due to Milton Southwest Florida schools are responding ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.
NAPLES Collier County Board of Commissioners provide updates for Milton Collier County Board of County Commissioners is holding a meeting for Hurricane Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Bus routes onto Fort Myers Beach to stop, water to be cut off ahead of Milton The Lee County government announced that LeeTran will stop running routes onto Fort Myers Beach and cut off water to the island as Hurricane Milton approaches.
TALLAHASSEE DeSantis announces that tolls will be suspended in Western Florida, Central Florida and Alligator Alley Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state has suspended all tolls in West Florida, Central Florida and Alligator Alley ahead of Hurricane Milton.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral isn’t offering sandbags, but one Cape Coral local is One Cape Coral resident saw a need during Hurricane Milton and decided to do something about it.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach braces for Hurricane Milton after Helene WINK News’ team coverage brings us to Fort Myers Beach, an area prone to storm surge and still recovering from Helene.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral holds press conference; here are 10 takeaways Cape Coral held a press conference Monday morning to discuss Hurricane Milton. Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter says storm surge is the biggest threat of Hurricane Milton to the city. His message to his neighbors Monday morning is to make a plan and execute it now.
NORTH FORT MYERS Charlotte County man prepares what he can ahead of Milton Hurricane Helene ravaged many homes in Charlotte County, and now locals are getting ready for a potentially stronger Hurricane Milton.
SWFL Florida evacuation orders ahead of Milton There are now mandatory evacuation orders for some barrier islands in Southwest Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton.
What’s open and closed as Hurricane Milton looms As Hurricane Milton strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico, services and businesses in Southwest Florida are adjusting their hours or closing temporarily.
Punta Gorda residents, businesses brace for Hurricane Milton With Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall somewhere along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Oct. 9, some Punta Gorda hotels stopped taking reservations, flight disruptions are expected and residents and business owners spent Oct. 7 prepping.
Lee County coastal businesses evacuate merchandise as Hurricane Milton approaches As Hurricane Milton began making its way across the Gulf of Mexico to a precise destination yet unknown on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Lee County business owners on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and other coastal areas weren’t waiting around to find out.
WINK NEWS List of shelters in SWFL ahead of Milton As Hurricane Milton approaches, shelters are opening across Southwest Florida to provide safety and refuge for residents.
Know your zone: Evacuation zones ahead of Milton As Hurricane Milton approaches, get familiar with your evacuation zone.
SWFL schools affected due to Milton Southwest Florida schools are responding ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.
NAPLES Collier County Board of Commissioners provide updates for Milton Collier County Board of County Commissioners is holding a meeting for Hurricane Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Bus routes onto Fort Myers Beach to stop, water to be cut off ahead of Milton The Lee County government announced that LeeTran will stop running routes onto Fort Myers Beach and cut off water to the island as Hurricane Milton approaches.
TALLAHASSEE DeSantis announces that tolls will be suspended in Western Florida, Central Florida and Alligator Alley Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state has suspended all tolls in West Florida, Central Florida and Alligator Alley ahead of Hurricane Milton.
Lighting up the deep overnight sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared away from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, boosting a heavyweight communications satellite into orbit while its upgraded first stage booster flew itself back to a pinpoint landing on an off-shore droneship. Earlier versions of the Falcon 9 first stage likely would have been unable to attempt a landing given the Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite’s high-altitude orbit and record weight — 15,600 pounds — but the “block 5” version of the booster, featuring more powerful engines, structural upgrades and other improvements, had no obvious problems. The block 5 debuted in June, along with an upgraded version of the rocket’s second stage. Sunday’s flight was the second for a block 5 first stage and the fourth for the upgraded upper stage. It is now SpaceX’s go-to rocket, with another rapid-fire launch on tap Wednesday with a different Falcon 9 to boost 10 Iridium NEXT satellite telephone relay stations into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SpaceX founder Elon Musk says block 5 boosters should be able to fly 50 to 60 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, a key element in the company’s drive to lower launch costs and capture a larger share of the commercial launch market. But as dramatic as the booster recoveries are, the primary goal of Sunday’s flight was to place Ottawa-based Telesat’s Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite into a highly elliptical orbit with a presumed high point of more than 20,000 miles and a low point of less than 200 miles. To get there, the 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 blasted off at 1:50 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) and quickly climbed away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust. Rapidly accelerating as it consumed its load of propellants and lost weight, the rocket arced away to the east over the Atlantic Ocean trailing a long jet of fiery exhaust visible for miles around. The nine Merlin engines powering the first stage out of the dense lower atmosphere shut down two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. The second stage took over at that point, firing its single engine to continue the climb to space. The first stage, meanwhile, began its landing sequence, firing three of its engines to slow down before atmospheric entry as it followed an arcing, ballistic trajectory toward the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” stationed several hundred miles east of Cape Canaveral. Using so-called grid fins at the top of the booster to maintain its orientation, the rocket re-started a single engine as it neared the drone ship, deployed four landing legs and settled to a picture-perfect touchdown on the landing deck. It was the 26th successful Falcon 9 booster recovery, 14 on drone ships and 12 on land at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Touchdown occurred a few seconds after the Falcon 9’s second stage engine shut down on reaching a preliminary orbit. After a second burn about 18 minutes later, the Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite was released as planned into its geostationary transfer orbit. On-board thrusters will be used to circularize the orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles above the equator where satellites take 24 hours to complete one orbit and thus appear stationary in the sky. The relay station is expected to enter service at 63 degrees west longitude in late August. “Telstar 19 VANTAGE is a state-of-the-art high-throughput satellite that will be co-located with our Telstar 14R satellite to expand our services over the Americas, the Caribbean and the North Atlantic,” Dan Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, told Spaceflight Now. “The satellite has a mix of Ka- and Ku-band capacity. “The Ka-band capacity for South America is already under a 15-year contract with Hughes Network Systems and our long-standing customer Bell Canada has entered into a 15-year contract for substantially all of the satellite’s Ka-band capacity over Northern Canada, which means that all of the satellite’s Ka-band capacity serving that region is already under contract.” Telesat hopes to follow up Sunday’s launch with a second Falcon 9 flight in August to boost the Telstar 18V relay station into orbit.