by Jenn Hanson | Sep 27, 2022 | West Palm Beach Local News
It’s that time of year, and the weather in Florida is already brewing a storm that is forcing residents to flee their homes and seek safety in nearby counties with family and friends.
Due of Hurricane Ian’s potential impact, Florida’s top disaster management official on Tuesday recommended residents along the state’s west coast to move to Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.
Around 2.5 million Floridians are presently subject to some sort of evacuation order.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, recommended people of Southwest Florida to leave the state by traveling east.
Many residents of Southwest Florida will likely flee the entire state, Guthrie predicted. Just travel directly to Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach.
Guthrie added that west coast residents shouldn’t travel north because it would cause too much congestion on the highways.
“Never travel north. Travel directly over to Southeast Florida “Guthrie declared.
Tolls have been suspended across the state to assist with evacuations, and transportation officials have stated that emergency lanes will likely be opened on busy thoroughfares like Interstate 75 in the Tampa area, Interstate 4 in Central Florida, and Alligator Alley that runs the length of the state from Collier to Broward counties.
Once traffic is going at a sustained speed of less than 40 mph, “contraflow” entails opening the shoulder for emergency evacuations.
According to DeSantis, “They will open that up to be able to boost the flow.” “They will do it as soon as that under 40 happens.”
According to DeSantis, 2,000 National Guard members from other states and 5,000 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated and are prepared to assist in storm-related crises.
The state’s 28,000 FPL lineman and five urban search and rescue teams are ready to respond to any power outages that may occur.
DeSantis said: “I would simply caution all Floridians who are in its path that there will likely be interruptions in things like electricity, fuel, and possibly communications.” “Just be prepared for that; that is to be expected.”
School closings have been declared by 26 school districts, including the Okeechobee County School District.
Florida’s 67 counties are all presently under an emergency.
According to DeSantis, the most recent forecast models predict that Hurricane Ian will make landfall south of Tampa, most likely in the Venice area, at some point on Wednesday night around 8 p.m.
According to the governor, the system would deliver “catastrophic floods and life-threatening storm surge” to Florida’s west coast.
The potential for floods and storm surge is truly historic, according to DeSantis.
by Jenn Hanson | Sep 12, 2022 | West Palm Beach Communication, West Palm Beach
Rain is a common occurrence in FL in the afternoons, but too much rain can lead to flooding, and not enough can send residents into a drought.
That is why the city has been engaged in a water dispute with Lake Okeechobee and its water supply. Many have asked, what should be done?
According to the United States Drought Monitor, South Florida and the Treasure Coast are either excessively dry or under moderate drought. According to officials, this was the third driest August on record for our area.
Years like this have prompted the city to advocate for more state control over Lake Okeechobee’s waters, which serve as the city’s backup drinking water source.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is approaching completion of a management plan that has received great approval from environmentalists. It advocates for additional water to flow south from Lake Okeechobee, replenishing the Everglades and reducing algal emissions into streams.
“We don’t need a drop, and we’ve been pushing for zero for a long time here: stop the releases, no lake water.” “That desire did not come true today,” Connor stated.
For many years, hazardous blue-green algal blooms in the St. Lucie River and sections of the Caloosahatchee River were blamed on Lake Okeechobee discharges. According to scientists, the blooms have public health implications, and an influx of freshwater with excess nutrients has harmed marine life and seagrass growth.
The new plan will move substantially more water south, providing the Caloosahatchee River with significantly more water than it need during the dry season.
According to the Army Corps, the new plan is a considerable advance over the old plan in terms of achieving balance for all stakeholders.
Colonel James Booth provided the following change summary:
Under typical conditions, eliminate lake releases to the St. Lucie, sending no lake water to the east 95% of the time. Under the 2008 LORS, eastward discharges were only at zero 37% of the time, and flows may exceed 1,800 cubic feet per second even in the low sub-band.
Under normal conditions, eliminate stressful discharges to the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee and provide lake flows consistent with estuarine ecosystem, as recommended by RECOVER.
Increase flows south to the Central Everglades to an annual average of 200,000 acre-feet and keep the option of releasing water all the way to the water shortage management line in collaboration with the SFWMD.
Fortify the safety of South FL occupants who are relying on the Herbert Hoover Dike to protect them from flooding issues.
As the C-44 and C-43 reservoirs come online, provide suitable lake operations.
Reduce the number of destructive dry downs on Lake Okeechobee.
The Water Keeper of Lake Worth Reinaldo Diaz concurred with Connor, wanting that discharges to the east were reduced more sharply. “We’re plodding toward the finish line when we should be sprinting,” Diaz said, wanting to see more done to prevent toxic blooms and additional damage to the Lake Worth Lagoon and watershed.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, southeast Florida and the Treasure Coast are either excessively dry or under a moderate drought.
Friends of the Everglades wrote to the Army Corps of Engineers last month, calling the proposed plan “well-balanced management that tries to preserve human health and the ecosystem.”
However, West Palm Beach authorities stated that their water requirements must also be prioritized.
The city has also been in contact with the Army Corps over Lake Okeechobee water releases.
It’s a difficult task to establish a balance between restoring the Everglades, reducing algae, and keeping the taps open.
Meanwhile, there is still optimism that South Florida’s rainy season may bring additional rain in the coming weeks.
by Jenn Hanson | Sep 12, 2022 | West Palm Beach Pets
The moment a Pompano Beach student in high school learned about the suffering of 260 rabbits and guinea pigs, she decided to assist in their rescue.
Dylan Warfel, a senior from Pompano Beach, reportedly launched a major coordinated effort to rescue many of the animals and find them new homes. She has always been an animal lover, and had already been rescuing animals for several years.
It happened in the town of Alva, which is close to Fort Myers, across the state from Warfel. Horses and ducks were among the other animals there. Sadly, they were all neglected, living in filth, and many of them had horrible wounds.
Warfel, phoned organizations she had previously collaborated with and others who may be of assistance. She quickly found homes for the majority of the 260 guinea pigs and bunnies.
The animals were rescued by Warfel and Marquelle Hendryx, owners and founders of Broken Oak Animal Sanctuary in Alva. They organized them in the order they would be dropped off and classified them by gender before driving throughout Florida in a hired cargo van in search of institutions that would accept the rescues.
On their approximately 24-hour journey, they claimed to have made six stops along route from the west coast to central Florida to the east coast.
Warfel, who also removed 21 bunnies and guinea pigs from Alva in the hopes of finding them homes, stated, “We even ended up taking 40 to Missouri.”
by Jenn Hanson | Sep 2, 2022 | West Palm Beach Religion
The First Baptist Church located in Riviera, which has served as the city’s Haitian community’s focal point for 75 years, is now being evicted. It seems a few deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office were in charge of it for a portion of time.
But the church has recently struggled, spending money on costly but essential renovations to address code issues before losing the property due to what church attorneys have called a misleading loan from a few years ago.
First Baptist attendees continued to gather there for worship after the church went into default on that debt ten years ago because it was kept open on a month-to-month lease.
A legal setback suffered after years of appeals last week allowed for eviction.
There won’t be any more church services from here on out.
The pastor’s son left the church feeling as though he may have attended First Baptist for the final time while deputies oversaw the eviction.
When asked if he believed he’d ever get his church back, Himburton Altidor responded, “I can’t even think right now, but it’s part of life. I’m not sure. Everything is possible with God.”
Attorneys for the church submitted petition to the court seeking an injunction to prevent the property’s new owners from tearing down the place of worship.
The Intracoastal Waterway is a block away from the property.
It had previously belonged to a Miami-based corporation, which sold it in February for $1.3 million to an organization connected to entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga Jr..
A corporate representative would not say what plans there were (if any) for the location.
by Jenn Hanson | Sep 1, 2022 | West Palm Beach Local News
The West Palm Beach Police office said a man got away from a car shooting incident around 1 A.M.. He was a passenger in the car that fled the shooting, and the driver ultimately escaped in a third vehicle. This was reported to happen between the Olive and Narcissus Avenue, the man has been identified as Montrez Grinnon, a 26 year old male.
Grinnon was caught hiding underneath a car near a complex apartment in Deerfield Beach
According to the CBS12 News Grinnon was already arrested multiple times for crimes such as felonies in Beach County. His past charges include one in 2014 where he was arrested for obstruction of execution of a search warrant. This was when he was 18 years old.
In 2015 his charges were corruption by threat and possession of firearm by a convicted felon.
August 2021, he was arrested for cocaine trafficking and child neglect.
This February he was charged with trafficking fentanyl and cocaine, and driving with a suspended license.
Then in April, he was arrested for battery and strangulation, but the state did not file charges and he spent a total of 15 days in jail.
The shooting victim on Monday was a 24 yr old man, who had multiple shots on his body. He was reported in intensive care but expected to survive and recover.
The incident was not a random act, but it did not describe the relationship between Grinnon and the victim, according to the police.
He is being held on unrelated charges which include possession of a weapon by a career criminal and resisting an officer without violence.
