FORT MYERS BEACH House catches fire on Fort Myers Beach According to authorities, a house caught fire at Fort Myers Beach on Thursday evening.
WINK Exclusive: Surveying the skies with LCSO after Milton The day after Hurricane Milton threatened Southwest Florida, the Lee County sheriff’s office took to the skies to survey the damage left behind. WINK news reporter Liz Biro got an exclusive look at the damage from above on Thursday as she rode along in the LCSO chopper with Sheriff Carmine Marceno.
FORT MYERS BEACH Storm prep eased post-Milton recovery efforts, LCSO says According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, residents heeded storm warnings and prepared accordingly, whether that meant stocking up on supplies or evacuating their zone.
NORTH FORT MYERS 7-year-old dead after crash on Gazelle Drive A 7-year-old girl has died after a collision on Gazelle Drive in North Fort Myers.
Charlotte County couple struggling after damage from Milton A Charlotte County couple’s home was damaged by Helene and Hurricane Milton, leaving them struggling to find a comfortable place to sleep.
Tracking Milton: Power outages across SWFL The Lee County Electric Cooperative has reported power outages throughout the area due to the effects of Hurricane Milton.
CAPE CORAL CCFD gives generator safety tips following two house fires Following Hurricane Milton on Wednesday, two house fires in Cape Coral occurred due to improper generator usage.
Sheriff: 39 homes damaged from Milton in Glades County area Hurricane Milton damaged approximately 39 homes in the Twin Palms area in Glades County, according to the Glades County Sheriff’s Office.
ENGLEWOOD Manasota Key closed following Hurricane Milton Due to safety concerns following Hurricane Milton, residents of Manasota Key do not have access to their homes.
SWFL schools affected due to Milton Southwest Florida schools are responding ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.
Hurricane Milton destroys Mucky Duck restaurant People across Southwest Florida were picking up the pieces and putting as many as they could back together Oct. 10, the day after Hurricane Milton brushed the region along the coastline before making landfall near Siesta Key and Sarasota at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 9.
CAPE CORAL Cape home bursts into flames; fire department unable to respond Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to a Cape Coral home.
Post-Milton recovery efforts, damage assessments begin in Collier County Collier County management began assessing damage Oct. 10 after Hurricane Milton and warned residents to exercise caution and to check for a license when hiring a contractor to perform work.
What’s open and closed after Hurricane Milton In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, services and businesses in Southwest Florida are beginning to reopen.
Collier County residents urged to minimize water use Collier County Public Utilities crews are working to restore services after Hurricane Milton and are urging residents to minimize water use.
FORT MYERS BEACH House catches fire on Fort Myers Beach According to authorities, a house caught fire at Fort Myers Beach on Thursday evening.
WINK Exclusive: Surveying the skies with LCSO after Milton The day after Hurricane Milton threatened Southwest Florida, the Lee County sheriff’s office took to the skies to survey the damage left behind. WINK news reporter Liz Biro got an exclusive look at the damage from above on Thursday as she rode along in the LCSO chopper with Sheriff Carmine Marceno.
FORT MYERS BEACH Storm prep eased post-Milton recovery efforts, LCSO says According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, residents heeded storm warnings and prepared accordingly, whether that meant stocking up on supplies or evacuating their zone.
NORTH FORT MYERS 7-year-old dead after crash on Gazelle Drive A 7-year-old girl has died after a collision on Gazelle Drive in North Fort Myers.
Charlotte County couple struggling after damage from Milton A Charlotte County couple’s home was damaged by Helene and Hurricane Milton, leaving them struggling to find a comfortable place to sleep.
Tracking Milton: Power outages across SWFL The Lee County Electric Cooperative has reported power outages throughout the area due to the effects of Hurricane Milton.
CAPE CORAL CCFD gives generator safety tips following two house fires Following Hurricane Milton on Wednesday, two house fires in Cape Coral occurred due to improper generator usage.
Sheriff: 39 homes damaged from Milton in Glades County area Hurricane Milton damaged approximately 39 homes in the Twin Palms area in Glades County, according to the Glades County Sheriff’s Office.
ENGLEWOOD Manasota Key closed following Hurricane Milton Due to safety concerns following Hurricane Milton, residents of Manasota Key do not have access to their homes.
SWFL schools affected due to Milton Southwest Florida schools are responding ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.
Hurricane Milton destroys Mucky Duck restaurant People across Southwest Florida were picking up the pieces and putting as many as they could back together Oct. 10, the day after Hurricane Milton brushed the region along the coastline before making landfall near Siesta Key and Sarasota at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 9.
CAPE CORAL Cape home bursts into flames; fire department unable to respond Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to a Cape Coral home.
Post-Milton recovery efforts, damage assessments begin in Collier County Collier County management began assessing damage Oct. 10 after Hurricane Milton and warned residents to exercise caution and to check for a license when hiring a contractor to perform work.
What’s open and closed after Hurricane Milton In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, services and businesses in Southwest Florida are beginning to reopen.
Collier County residents urged to minimize water use Collier County Public Utilities crews are working to restore services after Hurricane Milton and are urging residents to minimize water use.
Credit: WINK News. Florida’s death toll from the coronavirus topped 9,000 Thursday, while its pandemic-buffeted economy led the nation in a drop in the number of new jobless claims. The jobless claims are still historically high, as the state seeks to claw back economic activity still stunted by the continuing outbreak, and as schools around the state grapple with how to reopen classes safely. Some 55,106 Floridians filed for unemployment benefits last week, federal figures released Thursday show, a decline of 23,180 claims from the previous week — the biggest drop of any state. By comparison, at the same time in August 2019, there were 5,978 new jobless claims in Florida. Ross Graham’s Miami-based company is actually expanding. The cocktail manufacturer hired four new employees over the past month after an unprecedented spike in online sales during the pandemic through home delivery while bars remain shuttered. That was a shift for Miami Cocktail from mostly in-store sales at specialty grocers. “We’ve obviously had to pivot like everyone else and adjust our business,” Graham said. “The biggest uptick and pleasant surprise has been that online sales boost … it just continues to grow so that’s been exciting.” Miami Cocktail had a 2,900% uptick in online sales during the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same time last year. They’re even launching in the United Kingdom next week. Nationally, the number of laid-off workers applying for unemployment aid fell below 1 million last week for the first time since the pandemic intensified five months ago. The Labor Department said applications fell to 963,000, the second straight drop, from 1.2 million the previous week. Florida reported 149 new deaths from COVID-19 Thursday, bringing its total to 9,047 and its average in daily reported deaths over the past week to 168. That compares with 220 for Texas over the past week and 760 for New York at the peak of its outbreak in April. While deaths have mounted dramatically over the past couple of weeks, the pandemic-induced crunch at hospitals has been easing since three weeks ago and the state’s daily increases in confirmed cases have decelerated. The number of patients treated in Florida hospitals for the disease has gone from a peak of more than 9,500 down to 6,333 in the late morning Thursday. Meanwhile, in Manatee County on Florida’s Gulf Coast, several employees at a Florida high school are quarantining for 14 days after being exposed to the coronavirus on campus. Using contact tracing, the Manatee County school district and the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County found that “a number of school employees” had direct exposure to the infected person. Infections also have disrupted early voting for Florida’s primary election on Tuesday. Charlotte County Supervisor of Elections Paul Stamoulis said Thursday that a poll worker at the county’s Punta Gorda early voting site tested positive. “We were notified yesterday around noon and immediately shut the location down,” wrote Stamoulis in an email. Punta Gorda is on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about an hour and a half south of Tampa. Schneider reported from Orlando, Florida. Low Wages Assistance guidance in part “LWA is authorized by Presidential Memorandum, and provides claimants in most Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs up to $400 per week additional benefits, starting with weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020, and ending Dec. 27, 2020 at the latest. LWA will be administered by states and territories through a grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and with support from the Labor Department. “To qualify for LWA benefits, individuals must provide self-certification they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and the state must confirm that the individual is receiving at least $100 of underlying unemployment benefits. “LWA is funded by FEMA through a joint federal-state agreement and provides the states with two benefit options. For the $400 per week benefit, states must contribute 25 percent ($100) and the federal government will cover 75 percent of the cost ($300). States are encouraged to satisfy the 25 percent state match requirement and provide the additional $100 in benefits either through allocations of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), provided under Title V of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136) or other state funding. For the $300 per week benefit, FEMA will fund the entire amount and states may choose to simply satisfy the 25 percent state match, without allocating additional state funds, with the state funding used to pay regular state UI unemployment benefits.” MORE: U.S. Department of Labor guidance for lost wages DOL – unemployment insurance weekly claims For ongoing updates and information on unemployment, follow WINK News Investigative Reporter Sara Girard on Twitter and Facebook. She also updates the WINK News FAQ: Unemployment Resources page as information is received.