High School Football Scoreboard Week 6 Hurricane Helene couldn’t keep all the Friday night lights off in Southwest Florida. Week 6 was a loaded slate included a classic in the WINK News Game of the Week.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs begins clean up operations On Friday, the Department of Transportation pushed sand off the road on Hickory Island after Hurricane Helene ripped through
MANASOTA KEY Manasota woman recovers after home destroyed by Helene Whipping winds – the sound of Hurricane Helene ripping through Manasota Key, as swells smashed into the island. Even so, Marsha Viglianco stayed to watch from her back porch.
El Jobean residents fighting to recover from Helene In Charlotte County, people living in El Jobean are in recovery mode Friday night. Many were flooded out of their homes, and now they’re figuring out their next steps.
NAPLES Restoration efforts begin in the aftermath of Helene in Collier County Helene gave Naples Beach flash flooding a debris Thursday night.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda couple deals with flooding after Helene A Punta Gorda couple is recovering as the storm surge from Helene went through their dream home.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Flooding affects business in downtown Fort Myers In downtown Fort Myers, the streets may be drying up, but for one business owner on Bay Street, the true struggle is just getting started.
BONITA SPRINGS Damage in Bonita Springs from Helene It seems like nearly every place on the water was left with significant damage. In Bonita Springs, storm surge pushed into the city.
FORT MYERS BEACH Closer look at rescue operations during Helene All across Southwest Florida, we saw stories of bravery and selflessness during Helene.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Neighbors hit with flooding in Dean Park community On Friday, roads in downtown Fort Myers were fairly dry. It’s a stark contrast to Thursday night’s storm surge caused by the outer bands of Hurricane Helene.
ESTERO ISLAND Precautionary boil water notice issued for parts of Estero Island A precautionary water boil notice has been issued for Estero Island on Friday.
SANIBEL Helene aftermath in Sanibel While much of the water has receded, the Sanibel Causeway was closed for several hours Friday morning because city crews were trying to clean up the flooding and debris.
LEE COUNTY WINK News Player of the Week: Riverdale RB Cole Hayes Riverdale running back Cole Hayes rushed for 336 yards and five touchdowns against Cypress Lake to be named the WINK News Player of the Week.
Matlacha resident on difficult road to recovery after Helene Matlacha residents are recovering from Helene’s storm surge on Thursday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Neighbors begin to clean up after flooding on Fort Myers Beach Waking up Friday morning, Fort Myers Beach neighbors had deja vu. The site of debris, the sound of alarms and the unmistakable smell of mud brought back memories of Hurricane Ian.
High School Football Scoreboard Week 6 Hurricane Helene couldn’t keep all the Friday night lights off in Southwest Florida. Week 6 was a loaded slate included a classic in the WINK News Game of the Week.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs begins clean up operations On Friday, the Department of Transportation pushed sand off the road on Hickory Island after Hurricane Helene ripped through
MANASOTA KEY Manasota woman recovers after home destroyed by Helene Whipping winds – the sound of Hurricane Helene ripping through Manasota Key, as swells smashed into the island. Even so, Marsha Viglianco stayed to watch from her back porch.
El Jobean residents fighting to recover from Helene In Charlotte County, people living in El Jobean are in recovery mode Friday night. Many were flooded out of their homes, and now they’re figuring out their next steps.
NAPLES Restoration efforts begin in the aftermath of Helene in Collier County Helene gave Naples Beach flash flooding a debris Thursday night.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda couple deals with flooding after Helene A Punta Gorda couple is recovering as the storm surge from Helene went through their dream home.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Flooding affects business in downtown Fort Myers In downtown Fort Myers, the streets may be drying up, but for one business owner on Bay Street, the true struggle is just getting started.
BONITA SPRINGS Damage in Bonita Springs from Helene It seems like nearly every place on the water was left with significant damage. In Bonita Springs, storm surge pushed into the city.
FORT MYERS BEACH Closer look at rescue operations during Helene All across Southwest Florida, we saw stories of bravery and selflessness during Helene.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Neighbors hit with flooding in Dean Park community On Friday, roads in downtown Fort Myers were fairly dry. It’s a stark contrast to Thursday night’s storm surge caused by the outer bands of Hurricane Helene.
ESTERO ISLAND Precautionary boil water notice issued for parts of Estero Island A precautionary water boil notice has been issued for Estero Island on Friday.
SANIBEL Helene aftermath in Sanibel While much of the water has receded, the Sanibel Causeway was closed for several hours Friday morning because city crews were trying to clean up the flooding and debris.
LEE COUNTY WINK News Player of the Week: Riverdale RB Cole Hayes Riverdale running back Cole Hayes rushed for 336 yards and five touchdowns against Cypress Lake to be named the WINK News Player of the Week.
Matlacha resident on difficult road to recovery after Helene Matlacha residents are recovering from Helene’s storm surge on Thursday.
FORT MYERS BEACH Neighbors begin to clean up after flooding on Fort Myers Beach Waking up Friday morning, Fort Myers Beach neighbors had deja vu. The site of debris, the sound of alarms and the unmistakable smell of mud brought back memories of Hurricane Ian.
It’s a high-flying job. From the looks of it, you also need a strong stomach and a hearty sense of adventure to be a Hurricane Hunter. They fly directly into the world’s worst weather to “help forecasters make accurate predictions during a hurricane and help hurricane researchers better understand storm processes, improving their forecast models.” They fly straight into the howling winds, blinding rain, and severe air currents before entering the relative calm of the storm’s eye. Nick Underwood has flown missions directly into many storms as an aerospace engineer for NOAA Hurricane Hunters. “Jose, Maria, Nate, Florence,” he recalled to WINK News Reporter Liz Biro. “Going towards Fort Myers – worst flight I’ve been on in my eight years of doing this.” You guessed it. Underwood is talking about flying into Hurricane Ian. He shared some video from that flight with Biro. “The turbulence was intense, the lightning outside was intense,” added Underwood. “There was just a lot going on.” Lightning flashed outside as beds flew off their bunks inside. “But all the while, we’re flying through the storm collecting the important scientific data that we need to better forecast where the storm’s gonna go, how strong it’s gonna be,” he explained. RELATED: Storm Watch 2024: Ensuring Your Safety, Insuring Your Future Underwood was inside Kermit, a WP-3D Orion Aircraft. With permission from Jim Henson Productions, NOAA names its aircraft after various Muppet characters, according to the military. “The last few years, we’ve been launching drones out of the airplane. And so we have an operator on board, the drone can fly down to a lot lower altitudes, and we can safely get to and collect data that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to get,” he added. Despite extreme turbulence, the NOAA crew successfully launched a 27-pound Altius-600 drone. The drone collected critical measurements at a lower altitude while the flight crew found safer airspace.