Hurricane 2008

Hundreds of Florida Power and Light customers in Collier and Lee counties lost power for a few hours to several hours due to high winds that knocked down a few lines and damaged others. Full story »

Three months after floodwaters forced residents of Manna Christian Missions RV park from their homes, only a frAction have returned -- some 24 families out of more than 200. Those who remain either own or are still paying for newer trailers that lack the issues of surrounding older units. Full story »

There were 16 named storms this season. Six made landfall in the United States. Only one of those hit Florida, something officials are thankful for as the season comes to a close. Tropical Storm Fay made landfall Aug. 19. The storm came ashore early that morning over Cape Romano near Marco Island with tropical storm force winds that stretched for 125 miles from the center.
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Lee County will request roughly $1.24 million in federal reimbursement from Tropical Storm Fay expenses, significantly less than was requested for previous storms like Hurricanes Wilma and Charley, public records show. Full story »

As Southwest Florida braced for the cold, windy weather expected early this morning, Collier County shelters prepared for additional patrons. St. Matthew’s House, already full and over capacity with 106 people, took in about a dozen people shortly before 8 p.m. The shelter could take an estimated 40 people in for the cold weather, said John Bianco, program staff manager. He couldn’t predict how many additional homeless people would seek shelter for the night. Full story »

Bobby Young is back home, finally. Two months after he packed his furniture into a moving truck and escaped to his grandmother’s house, he’s back in his living room, chain-smoking cigarettes on a plaid sofa and watching “Unsolved Mysteries” on TV. Since the flood, little else remains in this single-story home on Saunders Avenue in east Bonita Springs. The refrigerator didn’t survive (a cooler now suffices) and behind two scavenged sofas, purple curtains filter the only light entering the room. Young, unemployed for the past eight months, can’t afford other furnishings. Full story »

Forecasters say conditions in South Florida are favorable to spark wildfires. Full story »

Anyone in Collier County who suffered damages or losses from Tropical Storm Fay must register for state/federal insurance by the end of Monday. Full story »

Crashing waves and a powerful sea surge from Hurricane Paloma destroyed hundreds of homes along Cuba's southern coast, but the storm rapidly weakened into a tropical depression Sunday as it moved over the island. Full story »

Paloma became an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane early Saturday, bringing wind and rain to the Cayman Islands and threatening to strike hurricane-ravaged Cuba as a major storm, forecasters said. Full story »

Sometimes “singing for your supper” isn’t just a quaint turn of phrase. Sometimes it means a whole lot more. Displaced from their homes in Bonita Springs’ Manna Christian RV Park by the residual effects of Tropical Storm Fay in August, dozens of children who belong to New Horizons of Southwest Florida’s “Super Kids Club” will participate in a free benefit concert at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at North Naples United Methodist Church, where they’ll be accompanied by world-famous opera singer and Naples resident Steffanie Pearce. Full story »

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Paloma is strengthening and turning to the north as it approaches the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Full story »

An appraisal by Lee County pegs the value of the Manna Christian Missions RV Park at $2 million. That’s if the county chose to make an offer. The recommendation from the Division of County Lands is to pass. The appraisal, by Michael Maxwell of Maxwell & Hendry, gives no value at all to the mobile homes and other improvements on the 20-acre property that was ravaged by flooding during Tropical Storm Fay in August. Full story »

It may actually feel as if it is fall this week in Southwest Florida. According to the National Weather Service, the coldest air of the season was slated to sweep through the area Monday night and last through Wednesday — with the week’s lowest forecasted temperature of 46 degrees expected for tonight. Full story »

A fire weather watch is in effect for Collier County on Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m., the National Weather Service reports. Full story »