Florida News That Impacts You – October 4th, 2024
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Florida’s four ports impacted by the Longshoremen strike (JAXPORT, Port Everglades, PortMiami and Port Tampa Bay) are back to full operations following the announcement of a tentative agreement on a new contract between the ILA and port operators. Prior to the agreement Governor DeSantis signed an executive order tasking state agencies to assist with expediting supplies to Hurricane Helene impacted communities that had been disrupted by the strike.
- Only 10,000 Floridians are still without power as restoration and recovery efforts continue following the landfall of Hurricane Helene. Nearly 2.4 million customers have had power restored in the state.
- Over 2.7 million ballots for November's Presidential election cycle have been sent out to voters statewide as requests for vote-by-mail ballots have increased significantly over the past week. 42,573 ballots have been returned to election supervisors thus far.
- Hobe Sound’s Harry and the Natives will remain open after all. On Thursday owner Harry MacArthur said the recent outpouring of support by the community, following the news that the 72-year-old restaurant was set to close its doors, convinced him to keep the restaurant going. MacArthur told WPTV that the restaurant would ‘restructure’ and put in a new menu. He’d previously stated that the cost issues associated with inflation pressures would force the closure of the restaurant.
- It’ll be hot and at times rainy throughout the day today with highs in the upper 80’s. Temperatures will be about 2 degrees warmer than usual for this date. The National Hurricane Center is tracking three systems. A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico has a 40% chance of developing over the next week (higher than yesterday) the system will likely push rain into our area over the next week. Hurricane Kirk remains a major hurricane in the central Atlantic, however it’s not likely to impact populated areas. Similarly, Tropical Storm Leslie is expected to become a major hurricane in the Southeastern Atlantic, however it’s also unlikely to impact populated areas.
- Gas prices dropped by a penny per gallon on Thursday. The average price for regular unleaded in Florida is currently $3.12 per gallon. In Palm Beach County the average price is $3.29 per gallon, in Martin the average is $3.17 and in Indian River County the average is $3.08 per gallon.