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The Point, Sept. 30, 2024: Recovery efforts begin after Helene's destruction

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Helene's impact

Steinhatchee, Fla., as seen from the air Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, following Hurricane Helene’s landfall as a category 4 storm Thursday night. (Diego Perdomo/WUFT News)
Steinhatchee, Fla., as seen from the air Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, following Hurricane Helene’s landfall as a category 4 storm Thursday night. (Diego Perdomo/WUFT News)

• WUFT News: Swept away: Aerial look at Helene’s impact on Florida’s Big Bend. "Over Florida’s Big Bend region where Hurricane Helene hit with brutal force, once-green forested areas were unrecognizable as flooding seawater washed over communities. Gaunt trees were stripped of their leaves, mud was deposited onto streets from storm surges and debris was scattered everywhere."

• WUFT News: Are hurricanes and tropical storms changing? Experts weigh in. "After three years of hurricanes barreling up the Gulf of Mexico, battered residents may feel they are living in a new Florida Hurricane Alley. But while living with recent storms has been frustrating and heartbreaking for many, the experts say there have not been any real changes in hurricane geographic patterns."

• NPR: Helene death toll rises to over 90 as millions remain without power. "Many people drowned after not heeding evacuation orders; others were killed in their homes and cars by falling trees and road signs. At least two Georgians were killed when a tornado picked up their car. Deaths were also reported in Florida, South Carolina and Virginia. Hundreds remained missing."

• WUSF-Tampa: Doing laundry is a gift when you're waterlogged and your home has no power. "Hundreds of water-soaked couches, beds, refrigerators and toys lined the streets. Residents, their friends and professional cleaning companies created piles of debris sometimes as tall as the six-feet-storm surge from Hurricane Helene."

• Watch video of cleanup in Cedar Key, damage in Horseshoe Beach and relief efforts there and broken power lines in Gainesville.

• See photos of the damage in Horseshoe Beach.


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Other Florida stories

Fruit at Ward’s Supermarket. (Hanna Maglio/WUFT News)
Hanna Maglio/WUFT News
Fruit at Ward’s Supermarket. (Hanna Maglio/WUFT News)

• WUFT News: Ward’s: A family-owned supermarket that spotlights local vendors. "Ward's Supermarket is the last independent family-owned and operated grocery store in Gainesville and has been serving the community for four generations."

• WUFT News: Gainesville Pride 2024: A time of celebration and political preparation. "Bo Diddley Plaza was full of tents decorated with rainbow pride flags. Live music and drag queens took center stage and several food trucks catered the event. Organizations, churches and vendors brought pride merchandise and crafts for attendees. Community members attended with their families, friends and pets to show their pride and support for others."

• WUFT News: Gainesville leaders fear state, national anti-immigration rhetoric. "Radha Dainton knows the personal heartache some people experience over immigration. As a Gainesville resident and an immigrant from Colombia, Radha explains why her grandmother cannot visit from their homeland."

• WUFT News: ‘Mr. Alachua’: Community cheers on young man in his mission to 'spread joy'. "Whether in sizzling heat, pelting rain or piercing cold, he stays on the job – strutting, swaying and bouncing on shoeless feet. He persists until about 5:30 p.m., six days a week. He sees himself as fulfilling his life’s mission: spreading joy and positivity."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Author to explore why UF is in Gainesville in Wednesday event. "Van Ness will focus on the Buckman Act of 1905 and Florida’s decision to abandon the UF campus in Lake City and what would Gainesville be like without the university. Van Ness’s book, 'The Making of Florida Universities: Public Higher Education at the Turn of the Twentieth Century,' was recently published by the University Press of Florida."

• The Alligator: FDEP calls for public comment on springs protection. Residents say it won’t listen. "The trip to Apopka was a roughly 100-mile journey from Jim Tatum’s home in Tampa. The 85- year-old waited in a sea of faces for his turn to say he hopes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will take better action to save the springs. Despite the fervent pleas of springs advocates, Tatum said he knew the state still wasn’t listening."

• Central Florida Public Media: Free COVID Tests offered ahead of another predicted winter spike in Florida. "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began offering the kits Thursday through the mail. This is the first time since 2023 the kits have been made available through the mail and health experts think it is a sign that federal health officials predict a strong respiratory infection season this winter."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Florida is learning to prevent suicide — from experts in loss. "Chris and Martha Thomas are busy in September. It’s Suicide Prevention Month. They lost their daughter Ella to suicide six-and-a-half years ago. Now they teach others how to recognize the signs. It’s part of an effort to keep other families from experiencing an unimaginable loss."

• MediaLab@FAU: It's still 5 o'clock somewhere: fans celebrate Jimmy Buffett's legacy. "The Legacy of Jimmy Buffett lives on as South Florida celebrates him on the first anniversary of his passing in September 2023. Buffett was known for his persona, talent, and charisma he carried throughout his life and the richness he brought to the state’s culture."

From NPR News

• Health: 5 things to know from this week’s big report on cannabis

• Economy: Why the price of eggs is on the rise again

• Health: Getting the COVID vaccine during pregnancy protects newborns from hospitalization

• Election: Justice Department sues Alabama, claiming it purged voters too close to the election

• Politics: At the border in Arizona, Harris lays out a plan to get tough on fentanyl

• National: Trump campaign hack traced to three Iranians seeking to disrupt election, DOJ says

• World: Netanyahu defies calls for a cease-fire at the U.N., as Israel strikes Lebanon

• Technology: California Gov. Newsom vetoes AI safety bill that divided Silicon Valley

• National: To combat misinformation, start with connection, not correction

Kristin Moorehead curated today's edition of The Point.