Florida News That Impacts You – October 17th, 2024
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Total insured losses from Hurricane Milton have been estimated to be $1.9 billion according to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation, resulting from 152,183 claims that have been filed to date. The total insured losses in Florida from Hurricane Helene, two weeks earlier, were $1.2 billion. The consensus view is that the losses will be able to be absorbed by the insurance industry without derailing the recovery that’s underway in Florida following a multi-year property insurance crisis with rapidly rising premiums and few carriers offering coverage.
- As the National Weather Service continued its survey work on Wednesday, it was determined that three additional tornadoes touched down in the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast bringing the confirmed total to 15, including the two devastating and deadly EF3 tornadoes. NWS has determined that the EF3 tornado that made its way from Wellington through Palm Beach Gardens was on the ground for 20 miles.
- A lawsuit was filed Wednesday seeking to strike Amendment 4 from Florida’s ballot. The lawsuit cites alleged “widespread” fraud in the collection of signatures needed to qualify for access to the ballot. A former Florida Supreme Court Justice is leading the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The lawsuit comes following a state investigation into alleged irregularities in signatures submitted from many counties including Palm Beach County.
- Indian River County has extended resources in Vero Beach available for last week’s tornado victims. The Indian River County Emergency Service Department is operating three comfort centers and a food pantry through Friday. The food pantry is located at the Salvation Army in Vero Beach, 2655 5th Street SW. The comfort centers provide victims with access to a bathroom, showers and laundry. They’re located at South Beach Park, the IG Center and at Victor Hart Community Enhancement Park.
- It’s a cool and windy start this morning with temperatures in the upper 60’s, with wind gusting to nearly 30 mph. Today will be mostly cloudy with and highs in the upper 70’s -which is cooler than usual for this date and the coolest day of the season so far. The National Hurricane Center is tracking two systems. A disturbance in the Atlantic nearing the Leeward Islands has a 30% chance of development (lower than yesterday). All leading models show the system moving away from Florida with most moving the system south into Hispaniola or Cuba. A second disturbance in the Western Caribbean Sea has a 20% chance of developing and it's too early to know what if anything may come of it.
- Gas prices were flat again on Wednesday. The average price for regular unleaded in Florida is currently $3.10 per gallon. In Palm Beach County the average price is $3.26 per gallon, in Martin the average is $3.13 and in Indian River County the average is $3.08 per gallon.