Florida's Latest News

Florida braces for Ian’s arrival, ‘millions’ likely to be without power, Gov. DeSantis says

Hurricane Ian continues to inch toward Florida and is already bringing strong winds and offshoot tornados in Southeast Florida, which have led to power outages for 8,000 people.

That number will balloon dramatically in the next few days, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, as Ian hits the state, likely as a Category 4 storm.

“There are about 8,000 without power … of course that number will be into the millions relatively shortly,” DeSantis told reporters at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee late Tuesday night. “We’re working with all of those (utility) companies to be sure they have the ability to get in as soon as possible and restore power.”

DeSantis said 30,000 utility workers are staged in areas to help restore power once the storm clears

Ian headed for SW Florida, but Gov. DeSantis warns Tampa, inland areas to brace for impact

The latest update in the forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Hurricane Ian hitting Venice, about 20 miles south of Sarasota, late Wednesday or early Thursday. But large swathes of Florida will see major effects of the storm much sooner.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that 2.5 million Floridians are under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, and residents of coastal areas should be prepared to see storm surges of five to 10 feet — something worse than when Hurricane Charley hit in 2004.

“The storm surge you’re going to see this time is going to far eclipse what we saw then,” he told reporters at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, Ian’s center was over Cuba, 200 miles south of Key West, with sustained winds of 125 mph, making it a Category 3 storm.

Florida gasoline prices dip to lowest level since January

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Florida was $3.38 on Monday, the lowest price since January, according to the AAA auto club. The average price was down from $3.41 a week earlier and $3.61 a month earlier.

Florida hit a record high of $4.89 a gallon on June 13, but prices steadily decreased through the summer. AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said Hurricane Ian is unlikely to cause price hikes because refineries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas will not be affected.

"There's actually downward pressure on pump prices, despite the forecast that a hurricane would approach Florida this week," Jenkins said in a statement. "Gasoline and oil futures prices plunged 7 percent last week, to eight-month lows on concerns that aggressive interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve could trigger an economic recession."

Medicaid providers ask circuit court to protect them from $15 minimum wage-related lawsuits

Three Florida health care organizations and a Largo-based provider sued the state on Tuesday, arguing that state legislators illegally opened them up to class-action lawsuits if they fail to pay employees at least $15 an hour as required in the new state budget.

The lawsuit, filed in circuit court in Leon County, asks a judge to issue a temporary injunction and block the enforcement provision from taking effect. The main argument is that the Republican-controlled Legislature “logrolled” substantive issues in the annual budget, which is supposed to be limited to just budgetary matters.

The groups that filed the lawsuit against the state and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) include the Florida Ambulance and Florida Assisted Living associations, Home Care Association of Florida and assisted living facility Heather Haven III.