The Point

The Point, Sept. 6, 2023: FEMA offers aid after Idalia

WUFT | By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published September 6, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

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The stories near you

• Florida Storms: State offers help to Floridians impacted by Hurricane Idalia. "Following Idalia’s impacts, the Florida Division of Emergency Management wants to ensure Florida residents have all the information necessary to recover."

• Mainstreet Daily News: County tax collector sued, BOCC aids in defense. "The issue stems from the property assessed clean energy (PACE) program, which the Florida Legislature first approved in 2010."

• The Alligator: Six teachers remain at Alachua eSchool. "Alachua eSchool has lost seven of its original 13 teachers, leaving it with only six full-time instructors, according to the school directory."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Levy County offers Idalia clean-up help. "Nearly a week after Hurricane Idalia blasted the gulf coast of Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, Levy County is picking up the pieces. As residents attempt to clean up and restore their towns, the county offers clean-up assistance and disaster relief."

• Ocala Gazette: Blown away birds. "Migrating birds can be blown off-course by the force of the winds. Caught in the eye of the storm, carried hundreds of miles, these birds can be lost and tired, separated from familiar landmarks and food sources."

• WCJB: Trail in Alachua County closes for the next week to help with preservation efforts. "The Barr Hammock Preserve Levy Loop trail in Micanopy will be closed until next Wednesday, September 13th for habitat restoration activities."

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Around the state

• News Service of Florida: Florida insurers OK’d to take Citizens policies. "As efforts continued to sort out damage from Hurricane Idalia, regulators on Friday approved proposals by seven private insurers to pull as many as 202,000 policies from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp."

• NPR: Tropical Storm Lee will soon be a major hurricane — with 145 mph winds or more. "In its last advisory, the National Hurricane Center said Lee has winds of 45 mph and is moving toward the Leeward Islands. Forecasters are already using stark language about the storm and its prospects."

• Health News Florida: As a late-summer uptick continues, Florida passes 90,000 COVID deaths. "The state reported the most cases of the summer, although numbers remain far lower than in the previous three summers. Also, the state had 90,232 reported resident deaths due to the virus."

• WLRN-Miami: Idalia hit one of Florida's poorest areas. How could that impact an economic recovery? "Many of the counties hit hardest by the storm have been outliers in Florida’s almost non-stop population growth. Taylor County was one of the few places to lose people between the 2010 and 2020 censuses."

• WMFE-Orlando: Annual study shows inflation is top concern for workers ahead of retirement. "The U.S. Census Bureau reports that around one in five (21%) Floridians are aged 65 or older, meaning they’re retired or will soon be."

• WGCU-Fort Myers: The science of measuring & tracking modern antisemitism. "According to the nonprofit Anti-Defamation League, antisemitism has been on the rise here in the U.S. for the past two decades – and 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of violence, harassment, and vandalism directed toward Jews."

• WLRN-Miami: 'I refuse to teach lies': Why one Black History teacher is taking a break. "Back in February of 2022, Renee O’Connor was a finalist to be Miami-Dade County Public School’s teacher of the year. Just a year-and-a-half later, O'Connor is on leave from teaching."

• WMFE-Orlando: New survey finds Florida food inflation turning into a health crisis. "Shelley said that while some people are reducing how much they eat, others are opting for cheaper alternatives like junk foods or highly processed foods."

• WLRN-Miami: Zoo Miami water park has a new outspoken critic: the zoo's longtime spokesman. "Magill issued a rare rebuke of his bosses in an editorial published in a small local community newspaper on Friday, which he shared with his more than 60,000 Twitter followers. He told WLRN he’s willing to lose his job after more than 40 years because he believes the project runs counter to the zoo’s conservation mission."