The Florida Roundup - Hurricane Helene, PolitiFact claims check, weekly briefing.

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we checked in with reporters and officials across the state to begin assessing the impact of Hurricane Helene. First, we heard from Lynn Hatter, news director for WFSU in Tallahassee (02:56), then we spoke with Megan Borowski, meteorologist for Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (07:07). Afterwards, we heard from Stephanie Colombini with WUSF in Tampa (09:17) and Craig Fugate, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (19:56). Next, we turned to Áine Pennello with WUFT in Gainesville (25:44) and later, WUSF’s news director Mary Shedden (33:07). We also checked in with our partner PolitiFact for a claims check about NOAA (28:34). Finally, we look at a few other stories from across the state including a look at how communities are planning for future storms (37:16).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Matthew Petty in for Tom Hudson. A nightmare surge scenario. That's how the National Weather Service in Tallahassee described the threat of Hurricane Helene as it moved into the Big Bend area last night. Helene had a massive wind field and pushed a huge storm surge into much of the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center says the water reached more than 15 feet above ground level on the Big Bend near Keaton Beach, Steenhatchee, and Horseshoe Beach. Here's Jamie Cruz. He's the police chief in the city of Perry, Taylor County, talking with NBC. The only regret I have at this moment is we weren't aggressive enough

in the notifications to tell people to evacuate the areas that were prone to flooding. Well, Helene left a trail of destruction as it made landfall on Dickel Beach and pushed into Georgia. And further south, Tampa Bay saw up to eight feet of storm surge, and possibly even more in some places. Here's 31-year-old Andrew Swan. He rode out the storm at a friend's house in Madera Beach, Pinellas County. He spoke with WUSF's Stephanie Colombini, who caught up with him as he walked back over the bridge to the mainland. Nobody here has ever experienced anything like this, this bad.

And so we thought it was just going to be a little bit of water here and there, but it started getting higher and higher. And so I was taking all this important paperwork and trying to get it as high as I could. And, I mean, eventually got about to chest deep. and so that was about 1130 it started receding then and yeah I don't know I was surprisingly calm you know yeah I was surprisingly calm it was uh it was just interesting and definitely never had an experience like this before and uh probably won't ever have an experience like that again I wasn't really afraid for my life or anything but it definitely makes you think when you look

outside and you can see the water is a foot higher than it is in the house, and it still has to come in a little bit more. So just definitely a very interesting experience. Well, as Florida takes stock of the damage, what now? How do communities begin to recover after a Category 4 storm? More than 900,000 people this morning still without power statewide. Thousands of rescue missions carried out overnight and more still. And there are reports of fatalities coming in. At least five people dead in Pinellas County alone.

Over the next hour, you're going to hear about the impact of Hurricane Helene from across the state. And your stories are important too. What are you hearing and seeing? How did the storm compare to other hurricanes you've experienced? What does your community need to recover? 305-995-1800. That number again, 305-995-1800. You can also email radio at thefloridaroundup.org.

Lynn Hatter is on the line. Lynn's the news director for our partner station, WFSU in Tallahassee. Lynn, what does Tallahassee look like right now? What's the damage? Well, Tallahassee itself looks fine, but that's not the case if you go about 75 miles east of us. This hurricane landed in a tiny little town, Deco Beach, and surrounding areas near it, Perry, Madison County, Keaton Beach, those areas have been completely devastated. A lot, a significant number, possibly a majority of the homes in Keaton Beach have washed away. You're looking at 100% power outages in Taylor, Madison, and Jefferson,

You're looking at 100% power outages in Taylor, Madison, and Jefferson, 86% of customers out in Wakulla compared to about 40% out here in Leon County. And so Leon County managed to dodge this by only about 15 miles. Had that storm tracked just a little bit further to the west, Leon County, which had been expected to take a direct hit, would have been devastated. But unfortunately, this storm went on a very similar path as Hurricane Zedalia, Debbie, and now Helene. And so we're looking at communities that have now gotten hit by three hurricanes in the last two years and two in this year alone. Wow. And I guess it's early days yet. Those rescue teams and recovery folks will be out there kind of assessing the damage. But what's your sense, you know, besides those homes devastated, any updates on potential fatalities, missing folks?

We have had reports of about three deaths so far here in the North Florida Big Bend area. As far as casualties, not many. But the search and rescue team, as we've been told, got out probably at around 1 a.m. when the storms, when the winds were starting to die down. They had not quite dissipated by then and have been doing sort of searches and rescues through the morning and definitely through sort of the early hours of this morning. But those particular areas, you know, again, looking at Perry, the city of Perry in Taylor County, those areas have been sort of walloped several times over now. And so their road to recovery is going to be extremely difficult. Because especially in that area,

shortly after Edelia, a lot of their major industries shut down. So not only are they, and have they been struggling economically now for the past year, they're now dealing with this on top of those already existing struggles. So this is a really dire situation for a lot of those communities that lie just due east of, or excuse me, yeah, due east of us here in Tallahassee. What are the immediate needs, Lynn, for the folks in those communities in the next few days and weeks ahead? So probably some of their immediate needs

are going to be definitely trying to deal with the insurance issues. A lot of those homes are older generational homes. They've been passed down by families. And one of the big things that we've known now for a while is a lot of those homes were uninsured. And so, you know, there's a lot of uncertainty now. A lot of the people, though, in those communities did evacuate. In fact, there was a mandatory evacuation issued for Taylor,

a mandatory evacuation issued for Franklin and a lot of our coastal areas. So a lot of people did evacuate. Now they're just trying to get home and really kind of to see what's left in their respective communities. Lynn Hatter is the news director for our partner station, WFSU in Tallahassee. Lynn, thank you so much for your reporting and stay safe out there. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Let's turn now to Megan Borowski. Megan, you're a senior meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network in Gainesville. Quite a night.

What has the last 24 hours been like for Florida's Gulf Coast? It has been catastrophic in some areas. Yesterday we started the day out with a Category 2 hurricane, and throughout the day we watched Helene strengthen into a strong Category 4 storm. You know, Helene had such a broad grasp or a broad reach across the entire Gulf Coast. We had reports of storm surge toward the Tampa area, even farther south. We had thunderstorms and tornado warnings as far south as Fort Myers and Marco Island. Heavy rainfall there, you know, seven feet of storm surge in Manatee County, and that mounts the farther north you go.

And of course, those catastrophic winds near the core of Hurricane Helene, reports of 100-mile-an-hour gusts closer to the Big Bend area of Florida. So it certainly has been quite the past day for a good portion of the state, and now the cleanup efforts begin. Yeah, why did the storm kind of go, how did it power up so quickly, I guess?? Yeah so Helene had quite the ingredients in place to strengthen the core of the storm when it started to develop past right between Cancun and Cuba and so it stayed over water so that allowed it to enter the Gulf of Mexico as it continued to organize it didn't have any detracting factors there and once it entered the Gulf it was over the loop current and so the the waters over the entire Gulf, it was over the loop current. And so the waters over

the entire Gulf are warm, but over the loop current, they're even warmer. And so we had that energy from those warm sea surface temperatures. And Helene entered an area of limited wind shear over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And as we always talk about, those are the two broad ingredients we look at for intensification of that storm. A lot of hurricane fuel there. You can call 305-995-1800. Share your experience of Hurricane Helene. How is your community doing? Email radio at thefloridaroundup.org.

Megan Borowski, stay with us, but I do want to go now to Stephanie Colambini. Now, Tampa Bay is around eight feet of storm surge and possibly more in some places. And Stephanie was at an emergency operations center in Pinellas County overnight, has been based or around eight feet of storm surge and possibly more in some places and stephanie was at an emergency operation center pinellas county overnight has been out this morning to see what helene left behind stephanie just walk us through what did you see yesterday night as the storm was moving in you know even by yesterday afternoon when i was out there you were already seeing flooding on the streets um and you know kind kind of water puddling everywhere, really choppy, rough waters, things like that. And unfortunately, seeing people on the beaches, you know, who did not evacuate and who were choosing to kind of hang out, check out what was going on off the beach and ride out the storm out there.

And so, you know, coming back this morning, it was just a really drastic difference. And you saw how much worse things got. Yeah. Now you've met some people who rode out the storm. We heard from one of them a little bit earlier. What are they telling you? It was a really harrowing experience. You know, talked to folks who just talked about how high the water was. You know, that gentleman, Andrew Swan, we heard from talking about how it was chest high in, you know, the single story home he was in. I talked to folks

who were on the second story of an apartment and it still almost got in their apartment, you know, it was going up the steps halfway from the first floor. And they talked about how people were wading through the floodwaters. And like, you know, it was up to their necks and they had their cats on top of their heads. And so the community of people who did say kind of banded together and, you know, they helped bring those people up to their second floor balconies and stuff like that. And we're giving them towels and water. But people were, you know, really freaked out and, you know, we were not safe in their home. Absolutely terrifying, Stephanie.

And Pinellas County officials just broke the news that five people were found dead in their homes on the barrier or islands. What more can you tell us? Yeah, so at least five deaths so far. That includes two people on Treasure Island Beach, two people in the Indian Rocks Beach area, and then one person in Dunedin, which is not a traditional, you know, beach community, though it is on the water. And so it shows just how damaging, you know, the flooding has been throughout these, you know, flood-prone areas.

And so we know, you know, that is the count so far. Of course, you hope that's it, but we don't know because there's so much still underway. Rescue efforts, people, a lot of people called overnight that first responders were not able to get to at the time because it was too dangerous to move around. Those storm waters were way too high. And so, you know, the sheriff said they're working as quickly as possible to check in with all those folks. Of course, plenty of people have been rescued this morning. But yeah, we'll see what happens with the death toll. It is really devastating. Can you give us a sense of what it's like out there on those

barrier islands? We are hearing that it's pretty bad in some places. What are you seeing and hearing? Yeah. And even I could only get so far. Their barrier islands are still blocked off for the time being. They said, you know, they really can't give anybody a timeline about when they'll be able to come back in. Because it's such a mess that even from what I saw, you know, I was able to kind of go over the bridges right up to the edge. And you still saw sand and debris everywhere. There were boats knocked into mangroves and on, you know, against the seawalls and in people's yards. And so absolutely a mess. And from what I've heard from, you know, the sheriff who has been, you know, even further out along, you know, Gulf Boulevard is the road right along the beach.

Mountains of sand, you know, four feet high mounds of sand that are blocking access to vehicles. There's all kinds of debris from homes, from hotels. There's cars that are totaled that were entirely underwater. So it's going to be a huge cleanup effort. And they have to be careful because a lot of this stuff could be dangerous if there's electrical equipment involved. So it's unclear when people will be able to return because there's a lot to do. Stephanie Colambini with WSF reporting from Pinellas County. Stay safe out there, Stephanie, and thank you so much for your work.

Appreciate it. Thanks. You can call in with your stories about what you saw and experienced and what you're hearing from Hurricane Helene. 305-995-1800 is the number. Email us, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Let's go now to Nathan in St. John's. Nathan, you're on the air.

What's on your mind? Yeah, man. We made it through the storm of still no power. Is there a number of how much of Florida is out of power? Yeah, the numbers that I'm looking at right now, it looks like there's still 979,000-plus customers out of power. I mean, that obviously is just like connection, so it could be a lot more folks who are needing power at this stage. And obviously, it's a lot worse than the kind of the storm where that tracked through the Big Bend area. What was your experience like?

How was it like riding out that storm? Lots of wind. I mean, I'm not sure. The wind really impacted the area. There's a lot of trees down. Of course, like you said, we're one of the one million people in Florida without power. I'm sure that the electric companies are doing the best they can to handle the overload. And like I said, it's going to be, I mean, I feel for the people

over in Taylor County and like that, the flooding must have been terrible because the wind was so strong. Yeah. Well, hopefully the recovery for yourself there, Nathan, isn't too bad. But I appreciate you calling in and stay safe out there. Yeah, you too, man. Well, let's get back to Megan Borowski with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. I mean, the track and the forecast intensity of the storm, it seemed like it was tracking pretty much along what the National Hurricane Center said. Yeah, the National

Hurricane Center did a fantastic job in their messaging and in their forecasting. The ultimate center of the storm was just a little bit east of the mean forecast line. And we had, you know, landfall over Taylor County. But overall, the forecast from the National Hurricane Center was spot on, you know, with a Category 4 hurricane making landfall sometime on Thursday night. And we saw that's exactly what happened 1110 last night over Taylor County. We had that eyewall move onshore and really produce quite catastrophic conditions. We're getting preliminary reports from the storm surge analysis from the NHC. They still have a lot of work to go to actually verify

what happened. But near Steenhatchee, Heaton Beach and Horseshoe Beach had water levels reach more than 15 feet above the ground. This is preliminary messaging from the National Hurricane Center. And that forecast verifies, you know, for about a day and a half, maybe longer, that NHC was calling for 15 to 20 feet of surge in that Big Bend region. And it looks like that's exactly what happened. So they did a great job with their forecasting. 305-995-1800, your stories on Hurricane Helene. What did the storm feel like and look like and sound like for you? 305-995-1800. Megan, 15 feet of storm surge,

I mean, 20 feet is like the size of a two-story house. So that is colossal and that does a lot of damage. Yeah, oh, absolutely. You know, I saw imagery last night when we were in live coverage of mobile homes just being washed away. imagery last night when we were in live coverage of mobile homes just being washed away. You know, too, that we have that forecast for 15 to 20 feet of storm surge. But down toward Tampa, St. Pete, we had six, seven, eight feet. Manatee County had seven feet. Cedar Key to the north had nine feet.

And that in and of itself is extreme. And we're seeing images coming out of, you know, of itself is extreme. And we're seeing images coming out of, you know, Hassegill Beach and down in St. Pete and Clearwater of six feet of sand on the barrier islands. So that is nothing to take lightly either, the amount of surge that we got farther to the south. So this storm really impacted the immediate coastline of the Gulf Coast with that surge. And then, you know, of course, we're seeing those wind reports as well coming on in of 100 mile an hour gusts, you know, over north central Florida. Yeah, right. So just a massive storm at one point, I think, kind of stretching all the way from Miami all the way up to Georgia. That is absolutely colossal. Megan, just in the last few seconds we have here, hurricane season is not over yet. I mean, what do people need to be thinking about

in the next month or so? You've got to be ready. Unfortunately, you've got to be ready for more. We have three storms out there right now. We've got Helene, we have Hurricane Isaac in the open waters of the ocean. That's not going to affect us. Neither is Tropical Storm Joyce that formed today.

But we're also monitoring two areas that could develop. And so just stay prepared. We will recover from this. It will slow we will recover though and then just you know keep your plans ready and please if you're told to evacuate use every effort that you can to get out because as we're seeing unfortunately you know some who did not evacuate paid with their lives Megan Borowski senior meteorologist for the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network thank you so much for the work you've been doing to cover the storm and keep us up to date. And thanks for joining us. Absolutely. Thank you, Pat. Up next, how Cedar

Cree rode out the storm and how do you even begin to recover from a Category 4 hurricane? More of your stories, too, from Hurricane Helene. What did you experience and what are you seeing now? We're at 305-995-1800. Email radio at thefloridaroundup.org. You're listening to The Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is The Florida Roundup. I'm Matthew Petty and for Tom Hudson, well, Hurricane Helene. Historic storm surge to parts of Florida's Gulf Coast, more than 15 feet in some places in the Big Bend. A day after landfall, the damage from this massive storm is coming into focus.

More than 900,000 people still without power statewide. Thousands of rescues have been carried out so far, more underway, and there are reports of fatalities amid the devastation. Well, how do you rebuild after a storm like this? What was your experience of Hurricane Helene? And what does recovery look like in your neighborhood? Call 305-995-1800 and you can email radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Well, Craig Fugate is the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

and former director of the Florida Emergency Management Division. How does Helene compare to other storms that you've witnessed, Greg? Yeah, this was what I would call an extremely well-forecasted hurricane. Nothing that happened was not in the forecast from the National Hurricane Center and the Weather Service, but it doesn't mean we're not going to have a lot of damages. And the only thing that I, you know, it's no comfort to people on the path of the storm is it didn't hit a high population area. So the people there are dealing with devastation,

but the numbers are not as bad as it could have been. It looks like Tallahassee was spared the worst of it. The communities that did get hit are seeing rather substantial damages. But this means that the Florida teams from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, National Guard, and all the mutual aid folks, they're going to have a lot of resources to get in these areas quickly. And that part of the response, I think, is moving out quite well today. The next big thing is just getting power back on.

Yeah. What kind of damage can 15 feet of water do? Well, it's going to destroy it. And you saw there's images out there of homes being floated by, total collapse of the walls. This is why it was such an urgent message to get people to evacuate. So as they get down in these areas, I think they're going to find, especially the older structures that weren't elevated, probably are all destroyed. And even the homes that were elevated, you have to look at how much wind damage and the utilities that were taken out. So it's going to be a while for people to get back in these areas and live there. Yeah.

Let's go to David in Dowling Park now. David, you're on the air. Hello. What did you see? What did you see last night, David? I understand you kind of experienced the eye of the storm going over. Yeah. So I'm here in Dowling Park, which is about 20 miles west of Live Oak. And

I live in Advent Christian Village, and I'm up on the sixth floor. And it was dramatic. And I just found out this morning that my next door neighbor had their windows blown out. So that's how powerful the storm was when it went through here. And we here in Dowling Park experienced the eye of all three storms, Adalia, Debbie, and now last night with Helene. Wow. Right over us. Any damage to your property, David? Like I said, no.

I live in an apartment building, so, you know, but, you know, there's a lot of tree damage around and, you know, nothing catastrophic. But, you know, the power's out. There's no elevator. Sixth floor. You have to dodge the people coming up and down the stairs with their walkers. So anyway.

Oh, my goodness. David, I'm glad to hear that you're okay and there isn't too much damage to your particular building. But do stay safe out there. Okay, thank you very much. Craig, let me just come back to you. I mean, David mentioned that three major hurricanes kind of passing through this area in a fairly short space of time. Like this part of Florida has really been hammered over the last little while. What about that?

I mean, what is it that I guess it's just a happenstance that these storms are coming through, but some of these communities are quite vulnerable, aren't they? Yes, if you go back and you look at hurricane history back to about the 1850s, and there was a book that was produced that had map plates showing you every 10 years where hurricanes went. We kind of saw this pattern where South Florida would be hit and then it would be up in the panhandle would be hit.

And so what's happening in the Big Bend, as you look back in history, is not unusual that over several years you'll have an area that will get hit frequently. And we saw this in 2004 where Polk County had three of the hurricanes pass over Polk County in 2004. So it's not as unusual, but it's no fun being under those storms. Yeah. What does the recovery look like? I mean, what are these communities facing over the next days, weeks, months ahead? Well, it's going to be power getting back on.

I think for a lot of places, most of the damage was done by trees. As you point out, as he was reporting in Dowling Park, you do have some structural damage. That obviously gets more intense as you get closer to where the eye passed through. But for the initial response, once they can get roads open and get into these areas and do search and rescue, the major task is getting power back on. For a lot of folks, that's about 90% of this response. You get power back on, they're going to get back to normal. In my neighborhood in Gainesville, the chainsaws are going full blast

as people are cutting up trees and stuff. But the real damage was where that eye came ashore, and the storm surge is far south down into St. Pete and Tampa Bay. So that's where we saw the structural damage. But most everything else, especially up here in this area, is the damage caused by trees coming down. Yes, indeed. A lot of work to be done in the next little while to be sure to recover. Former FEMA Director Craig Fugate, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. My pleasure.

Well, Anya Piniello is with WUFT in Gainesville. Anya, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. My pleasure. Well, Anya Piniello is with WUFT in Gainesville. Anya, thank you so much for being with us. Now, you've been keeping an eye on Cedar Key. What are you hearing from folks out there? Yeah, so Cedar Key was hit really hard, you know, again, like other places, still dealing with damage from Hurricane Debbie and Hurricane Adalia. You know, for folks who are not familiar with it, it's a very small island off the coast of Levy County.

A lot of commercial fishermen live there, very hardy group of people. Someone that my colleague spoke to with is Michael Priestley Bobbitt. He is a clam farmer out in Cedar Key, and he actually spent the night on the island. He had a rescue boat, and he rescued people from their homes.

Well, we spent most of the night fighting the hurricane. It was completely and totally devastated. It's hard to know the extent of the devastation because it was dark and the water had covered up most of the town. I think we'll know in the morning the extent of it. But we were able to get a handful of elderly people out of their low-lying homes, and we brought them here to my house on the top of a big hill here in the middle of town. And just as soon as it's daylight out, we'll be out in the boat seeing who might be trapped and who might be on roofs. Wow, so some pretty dramatic rescue efforts going on there, it sounds, Anya. Yeah, there is.

And, you know, Michael is a resident there, but there are official rescue operations happening. In Citrus County, first responders were out in boats this morning rescuing people who were trapped by floodwaters. The U.S. Coast Guard is in Levy County making rescues there. Levy County officials took to Facebook this morning asking people to make themselves known to emergency service personnel when they see them and to let them be evacuated. They said while they have the resources now from the state, those resources will be going to other counties after they're done working in Levy County.

And so if people do not evacuate now, they may not have the resources to evacuate them later on. Just before we let you go, Anya, what about around University of Florida in Gainesville and Alachua County? What's it looking like around there? Yeah, a lot of trees and power lines down on the streets today. 55% of the county is still without power. 34 streets in Gainesville are blocked by trees. 169 traffic lights are out. The city has about 200-plus traffic lights. Let's put that into proportion.

And, of course, the University of Florida campus is closed today. Anya Piniello with WUFT in Gainesville, thank you so much for reporting. Stay safe out there. I hope everything goes smoothly for yourself with the recovery as well. Thank you. Appreciate it. You're listening to... I'm Matthew Petty and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station.

Well, as Election Day nears and voting begins, we'll be examining some claims each week with our partner, PolitiFact. If you have a claim and you want us to check it out, you can email radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Samantha Putterman is a reporter from our news partner, PolitiFact Florida. Let's start with a statement from Congressman Jared Moskowitz. He made this about Project 2025 and the Democrat whose district includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties once served as Florida Emergency Management Director. Here he is speaking during a House hearing earlier this month. Well, it sounds like we don't have that audio, but he was talking about Project 2025 and getting rid of NOAA, the National Weather Service, the people that tell you the weather and help you prepare for hurricanes. Sam, are you on the line there?

Yes, I'm here. Project 2025 wants to get rid of NOAA, wants to get rid of the National Weather Service, you know, the people that tell you the weather and help us prepare for hurricanes. All right, so that's Jared Moskowitz there. So talk about that a little bit. I mean, does NOAA come up in Project 2025? squirts there. So talk about that a little bit. I mean, does NOAA come up in Project 2025? Yeah, so it does come up, but it doesn't call for the complete dismantling of NOAA or the National Weather Service. It says that NOAA should be broken up and downsized, and it says that the

National Weather Service should fully commercialize its forecasting operations. But Project 2025 also has said little about the National Hurricane Center, besides that the next administration should review its work and should present data neutrally about the climate debate in its words. But several experts have criticized the plan, saying that while it doesn't call for the complete elimination of these agencies, it does place restrictions on research and climate products and would likely cripple public weather forecasting. Up next, a recent TV ad urging Floridians to vote no on Amendment 4. Now, the ballot measure, that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution. Let's take a listen. Unlike other amendments, Amendment 4 has no definitions. Small detail, big problem. Without definitions,

these words could mean almost anything. All right. So let me ask you about that, Sam. Does a lack of definition, I should say, in the amendments wording really mean there would be no rules? No. So we rated this ad mostly false. If approved by voters, you know, terms like viability, patient's health and health care provider may need clarifying, but legal experts agreed that courts would be the ones to do it. You know, some said that this could lead to broad interpretations, while others said these terms are well-defined already. The bottom line is that, you know, many of these terms have a starting point in definitions already existing in Florida law, and, you know, the courts are going to be the ones to define those parameters.

existing in Florida law. And, you know, the courts are going to be the ones to define those parameters. Indeed. I mean, what is the precedent for definitions and ballot measures as well? Right. So this year, five of five of Florida's six ballot measures, including Amendment 4, don't include definitions. The other four come from the legislature. And historically, you know, many ballot initiatives in recent years have added definitions, but several others haven't. And, you know, Florida law doesn't require a definition section. And it is important to note, you know, that the state Supreme Court did approve this amendment's wording back in April. Right. So now we're going to turn to another ballot initiative. And if it passes, Amendment 3 would allow adults in Florida over 21 to buy, possess and use marijuana

without a medical card. Here's a recent ad running against the measure. They wrote it, they rigged it, and they're hoping you fall for it. Amendment 3 isn't the marijuana amendment, it's the monopoly amendment. All right, so what is the rating on that claim, Sam? Yeah, so this one is false. Large marijuana companies do support Amendment 3, which would legalize, as you said, recreational marijuana if voters approve of it. But Florida election law does allow these companies to financially back ballot measures. The measure says medical marijuana treatment centers or other state licensed entities will be able to sell recreational marijuana products without criminal or civil liability. But it doesn't establish a monopoly, which is already prohibited by federal law. If approved, the measure also wouldn't take effect for 60 days, and the Florida legislature

would be able to determine processes for entities to acquire those licenses to sell recreational marijuana. The state could also license additional medical marijuana entities. There's currently 25 in the state right now and other companies in the future. Well, we've been speaking with Sam Putterman. She is a reporter from our news partner, PolitiFact Florida. Thank you so much, Sam. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. All right. We just want to go back for a moment to Hurricane Helene and joining me in the studio here at WUSF is News Director Mary Shinn. Mary, thanks for being here. Sure. Thanks, Matt.

So quite a night as we've been saying, and there's a lot of damage on the barrier islands in the Tampa Bay region. Of course, a lot of damage up in the Big Bend region, but just put it in perspective for us. And we are hearing some reports of fatalities coming in from Pinellas County and the early days yet. So five confirmed fatalities at this point, potentially more. Sure. What really struck me is something that Craig Fugate just said a few moments ago is in the Big Bend, in that area, the damage is coming from trees. The really profound impact here in the Tampa Bay area is storm surge. And that's happening all along the Gulf Coast. And I think the impact you're seeing that in Cedar Key, like Anya mentioned, up in the Big Bend,

in Franklin County, in Apalachicola, all those areas. This storm didn't just hurt via wind. It didn't hurt just via rain or storm surge. It just hurt everybody and everything. The urban areas are going to have significant, significant damage, as Craig said, involving buildings, businesses. We're seeing pictures of restaurants that have been around for decades and decades, and they're gone. And that recovery is more than just personal. But right now, the big focus is on that recovery, getting people to safety, and then starting to rebuild. It strikes me that we're looking at or hearing reports of this damage, seeing a little bit of footage too on some of the TV news of damage over the barrier islands. And it does seem eerily similar to what we saw

from Hurricane Ian a couple of years ago, right? Right, right. And there are the Pinellas beaches, I've been seeing them for 25 years and recognizing the streets with four or five feet of sand that I was driving just a week ago. It is a lot like folks were talking about when Ian struck. We have a lot of questions. There's going to be a lot of, you know, in terms of people losing housing, all those issues. I'm sure we're going to be looking to our neighbors in Lee County and in Charlotte County and asking for a little advice on where do we even begin. Before that, though, as you mentioned, I mean, the focus on the next few days, there's still, you's still rescue efforts underway, right? Like a lot of folks living along the Gulf Coast, especially in the Tampa Bay area and further north.

So it's just a matter of now kind of assessing what the damage is before moving on to the next stage. Exactly. It is knocking on doors. It is not letting people back on barrier islands. It's making sure bridges are safe or trees are cleared from roads. It is literally just making it safe to get out and start figuring things out. And our team of reporters from WUSF and our partner stations, WUFT and WFSU, will be covering that story in the days and weeks ahead. Mary Shedden is the news director with WUSF in Tampa. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

Well, coming up next, how communities are preparing for future storms. Election officials also urging voters to trust them for the upcoming 2024 election. And some positive news for Florida's threatened manatees. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida public radio station. And do stay tuned, we will be bringing you more live coverage of Hurricane Helene as we continue following the storm and the aftermath of the storm This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Matthew Petty, in for Tom Hudson. Hurricane Helene brought destructive storm surge to the Gulf Coast, and climate change could have an impact on the damage from future storms too. The city of Clearwater just completed a vulnerability assessment, and no surprise, Clearwater residents will be impacted by extreme heat, sea level rise, and flooding in years to come, much like all of Florida's coasts. Jessica Mazaros from our partner station WUSF in Tampa

reports. By the year 2100, Clearwater residents will endure about 200 days of temperatures over 90 degrees annually and a 24% increase in rain, with sea levels rising to eight feet above what they were two decades ago. Cassie Cordova is the sustainability manager for the city. She says it's good for leadership to have the data and mapping her team has compiled. So that we can look at those for our future capital investments and see where we should be building, where we shouldn't be building, and what we should be hardening to make it more resilient. The analysis was largely paid for through the state's Resilient Florida program.

I'm Jessica Mazaros in Tampa. And as Florida takes stock of the damage after Hurricane Helene, one county is now better prepared for future storms. Monroe County was once the only county in the state without an emergency operations center, but on Monday, Florida Keys officials unveiled a new EOC that will house emergency managers, fire rescue, and other public safety officials through future storms. From our partner station WLRN in Miami, Julia Cooper brings us the story. Over 200 people from across the Keys and state

gathered to see the ribbon cutting and tour the new facility. From now on, emergency management staff will no longer have to evacuate the Florida Keys during strong storms like they did in 2017 during Hurricane Irma. Instead, they'll stay in the new center on the edge of the airport in Marathon. It is truly an impressive structure and more importantly I can say that we are no longer the only county in the state of Florida without a standing EOC. That's the county's emergency management director Shannon Weiner. The new EOC stands 21 feet above sea level. It can also withstand 220 mile per hour winds, a rainfall rate of 11 inches an hour, and support over 100 people for about 96 hours with generators. It's also now home to county fire rescue administrators and Monroe Sheriff Office

911 dispatchers. Officials say the shared space will allow for quicker communication between public safety personnel during times of emergency. I'm Julia Cooper in Marathon. Fall semester is underway and teachers and college students alike are settling in. A growing number of those students are facing additional barriers, food and housing insecurity. Data on this demographic is scant, but a U.S. Department of Education survey found that at least 8% of college students experience homelessness at one point or another, resulting in lower GPAs and higher dropout rates for some. Reporter Lillian Hernandez-Catabajo from our partner station Central Florida Public Media explains. Those who've been there know it.

College is hard. It's meant to be. But for students couch surfing, sleeping in their cars, or trying to find a place to lay their heads at night, it can be unmanageable. Peyton Bach is one of these students. We met at a drop-in center for youth experiencing homelessness in downtown Orlando. My name is Payton. I am 22 and I am currently in college and homeless.

One of the things hard to miss about Baksh is his laugh. Baksh spent nearly a decade in the foster care system before opting out at the age of 19. Since then, the 23-year-old has been mostly transient and unsheltered. But earlier this year, Batch decided to enroll in college full-time for computer science. The Valencia College freshman took his first courses online over the summer while still living out of a tent in the woods in Kissimmee.

He says the academic challenges were eclipsed by his struggle to just meet basic needs. Where am I going to get my food? Where am I going to go to the bathroom? Where am I going to shower next? I was very stressed. I only had so much time to do my schoolwork, which started to make my grades suffer. Baksh says rain and heat were big issues. One day it rained so hard that his laptop got waterlogged beyond repair. And I'm like, everything I had on that laptop is now gone. Baxia's experiences are in line with other unhoused college students,

according to Kate Santich with the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. There are a fair number of college students who are living in their cars. Their home is a parking lot somewhere, and maybe they're showering in the gym on campus. Santich says Central Florida has the highest increase in homeless youth and young adults in the state. Her nonprofit was awarded an $8 million federal grant last year to serve this vulnerable group. And Bax is taking full advantage of state and local funding to get on his feet. It took hours of bus rides just to get an ID and sign up for social services. But most importantly, Batch was able to

get into transitional housing. Now, he's still technically considered homeless because transitional housing isn't permanent. But Batch says a roof over his head has made all the difference. I don't have to worry about food. I can use my EBT. Got food. I can cook. I got a stove. I have AC. Don't need to worry about the heat. I can go get water from the kitchen. So it's like, I don't have to worry about that stuff. I can sit in my room, on my bed, on my computer, charge, do my schoolwork. Here in Florida, homeless youth can qualify for tuition waivers and fee exemptions until the age of 21. For people in the foster care system like Bash, they get until age 28. But tuition alone doesn't guarantee success. Rashni Shankar

Brown is a professor at Stetson University in DeLand and president of the National Coalition for the Homeless Board. Students struggling with fundamental basic human rights and needs often experience intersectional traumas. And we see there are also many academic challenges due to stress, lack of focus, fatigue. Shankar Brown says a lack of public awareness leads to ignoring the systemic barriers at play and stigmatizing the students. Back with Baksh, he says he's felt stereotyped before, but also he's received a lot of support. When stuff happens, whether it's good or bad, it's a lesson. So in a way, it's a work in progress. Sometimes you just got to take one step at a time, one day at a time.

Faksha's goal is to eventually get into his own apartment. And when he finishes his associates, he says he might shoot for a four-year degree. In Orlando, I'm Liliana Nandez Caravaggio. I'm Matthew Petty, and you are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida public radio station. I'm Matthew Petty, and you are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida public radio station. Registered voters in Florida have a number of ways to make their voices heard in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. But election officials say it's crucial for voters to have faith that their ballots are being counted properly and have confidence in the outcome of the elections. On the most recent episode of the Deeper Dive with Dara Cam podcast

from the News Service of Florida, Dara spoke with Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hayes about the challenges facing elections officials. Supervisor Hayes, a former state legislator, and his colleagues are urging voters to trust elections professionals and know that their votes are secure. Here's an excerpt. I have said so many times, to me, the biggest tragedy of the 2020 election here in America was not who won or who lost the candidacy. The biggest tragedy is the amount of undermining of the confidence of the voters that has taken place because so many lies have been told. People are making up stories that have absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever. People are taking just reams and reams of data and misinterpreting it and giving completely incorrect conclusions that they have gleaned

from that data because they didn't know how to use it. And consequently, many of the voters have had their confidence undermined. And we as supervisors are saying, please remember, we're the ones that are still doing the election. We're the ones that are making sure the ballots are proofed and that the tabulation machines are programmed correctly. And no, they do not use the internet, so they have not been hacked. Anybody that tells you that our tabulation system has been hacked, I would look them straight in the eye and tell them they're full of baloney. I have total confidence in the American voter and their collective wisdom. And I feel embarrassed that so many false statements have been made pertaining to the world of elections

in the last four years. Are you concerned about what happens after the election in November if one side wins and one side loses? I'm concerned for the future of this country. When we have people that have so blatantly disrespected the constitution of this country, we're in a world of hurt. And the people of this country are we're in a world of hurt. And the people of this country are going to have to have a real serious introspective period and look in their own hearts and learn about that constitution and say, are we or are we not going to abide by this Constitution? My personal suggestion is an emphatic yes, you better abide by it. The average duration of any constitutional government across the globe is 17 years.

Our Constitution has been in force for over almost 250 years. And it is unquestionably the best governing document man has ever written. And to disrespect that document, as so many people are doing, is a crime against America. And it needs to be corrected. And that was Lake County Supervisor of Elections, Alan Hayes, on the Deeper Dive with Derek Hamm podcast, a product of the News Service of Florida. And you can hear the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

As mentioned earlier, we will be getting into your questions about voting protocols for the 2024 general election on next week's program. And finally this week on The Roundup, some good news for Florida's embattled manatees. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing expanding critical habitat for the threatened species in Florida by more than a million acres. That would nearly double the area of protected habitat. The decision comes after federal wildlife officials settled a drawn-out lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Save the Manatee Club.

The group said existing habitat was based on waterways where manatees were known to swim rather than the ecological conditions they need to survive. The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed changes. And that's our program for today. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa. The show is produced by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and our Technical Director is Peter Mertz. Engineering help from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels and Jackson Harp. Richard Ives answers the phones.

Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leib at aaronlibos.com. If you missed any of today's show, you can download it and past programs at wlrn.org slash podcasts or find us on the NPR One app. Thanks for calling in and listening, and stay with your local public media stations for more coverage of the recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene.