Florida News That Impacts You – October 8th, 2024
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Hurricane Milton is now expected to make landfall as a Category 3 Hurricane with top sustained winds of 125 mph in the early morning hours on Thursday just South of Tampa Bay.
- Hurricane Watches are in effect for Lake Okeechobee, and from the St. Lucie/Indian River County Line along Florida’s east coast north. A tropical storm watch currently in place from the St. Lucie/Indian River County Line south through all of Southeastern Florida. The entire area is also under a Flood Watch and Severe Weather advisory.
- In advance of Milton’s impact Governor DeSantis has suspended tolls throughout much of the state, including on all western and central Florida toll roads, though not in South Florida where the impacts of the storm are expected to be minor. Alligator Alley remains the lone roadway with suspended tolls for the duration of this event.
- Public Schools in Palm Beach and Martin County will remain open today, however all after school events, club meetings and athletics will be canceled. PBC and Martin’s schools will be closed Wednesday and Thursday. All school districts along the Treasure Coast north of Martin County will be closed today through Thursday
- Brightline will cease service on Wednesday and Thursday. Their last scheduled train service will take place at 7:45 pm today.
- The Palm Beach County Emergency Operations center is currently operating at Level 3, or enhanced monitoring of Milton’s developments. Based on current forecasting there’s a 40%-70% chance of experiencing at least sustained tropical storm force winds Wednesday as Milton crosses the state.
- It’ll be rainy throughout the day again today with highs in the low 80’s - slightly below average for this time of year. The National Hurricane Center is tracking four systems led by Hurricane Milton, including a disturbance off Florida’s east coast with a 20% chance of development. Milton remains the only threat to the United States.
- Over 3 million ballots for November's Presidential election cycle have been sent out to voters statewide as we're now only 4 weeks away from Election Day. 147,794 ballots have been returned to election supervisors thus far.
- Gas prices were flat on Monday. The average price for regular unleaded in Florida is currently $3.10 per gallon. In Palm Beach County the average price is $3.27 per gallon, in Martin the average is $3.15 and in Indian River County the average is $3.08 per gallon.