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Florida deploys recovery teams to aid North Carolina, Tennessee following Hurricane Helene

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday announced the launch of Operation Blue Ridge, an initiative aimed at providing emergency assistance to North Carolina and Tennessee in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The operation mobilizes multiple Florida agencies, including the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), the Florida National Guard, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Teams deployed will consist of search and rescue personnel, law enforcement officers, and transportation experts.

FDEM is sending an All-Hazards Incident Management Team, a Communications Unit Strike Team, and a Telecommunications Emergency Response Task Force. Additionally, the division will deliver 42,550 gallons of water and over 100 Starlink satellite devices to help reestablish critical communication lines. The Florida State Guard will contribute two specialized search and rescue teams, eight soldiers, and one aerial assessment pilot. The Florida National Guard is dispatching two response teams and eight soldiers, along with two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to support heavy-lift operations.

Hurricane Helene causes $145-160 billion in damage, among costliest storms in U.S. history

A preliminary damage report estimates that Hurricane Helene caused between $145 billion and $160 billion in total damages and economic losses, placing the storm among the costliest in U.S. history.

The projection, issued by AccuWeather, includes damages to homes, businesses, medical facilities, and infrastructure, as well as indirect economic impacts such as job and wage losses, supply chain disruptions, and evacuation costs. The forecast also accounts for both insured and uninsured losses, making it broader in scope than other preliminary assessments from different sources. The figure marks an increase from the group’s initial estimate of $95 billion to $110 billion in damages.

“AccuWeather experts have continually monitored information related to Hurricane Helene from a variety of sources, and unfortunately, upon early surveying  of the scale of damage to homes and businesses, the extensive loss of life, injuries, evacuations, rescues and widespread power outages which are likely to last at least weeks in some areas and other factors, we were compelled to increase our estimate,” says the report.

After Hurricane Helene, new tropical threat looms for Florida, Gulf Coast. What you should know

Words nobody affected by Hurricane Helene wants to hear: A tropical storm or hurricane could form over the western Caribbean.

"Conditions remain ripe for tropical development in the western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico over the next week and steering breezes would tend to guide any feature that forms in those waters toward the United States," according to AccuWeather.

Those sentiments were echoed Sunday by Dr. Ryan Truchelut, chief meteorologist with WeatherTiger.

"Traumatized" Gulf Coast, Florida and the Southeast need to keep a close eye on this potential threat. Truchelut is a Florida meteorologist who works with the USA TODAY Network.

In a telephone interview Friday, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned residents along the Gulf Coast to not "let your guard down" as a system of low pressure could form over the western Caribbean.

What you should know about the dozens of new Florida laws taking effect

People who are homeless can’t sleep on city streets. A tracking device can no longer be surreptitiously placed on a car. Homeowners must disclose whether they’ve filed a flood insurance claim to a potential buyer. These are just three of the 34 new laws taking effect Tuesday. Here’s a rundown of the six bills we think you should know about.

HOMELESS CAMPS

The new homeless encampment law, HB 1365, would allow county residents, business owners and the state attorney general to sue a county or city for allowing homeless people to sleep on public property that hasn’t been designated an encampment. Local governments could create these temporary and homeless camps one year at a time if they don’t have enough room in existing shelters. Encampments are required to be clean and safe. Fiscally constrained counties are exempt.

TRACKING DEVICES

A person or business will be prohibited from tracking another person or their property, such as a car. The new law, SB 758, carries a third-degree felony for anyone who violates it but exempts parents or legal guardians of a minor, caregivers for the disabled or elderly and the car manufacturer. The manufacturer must tell the next owner how to remove the device upon selling it.