Month: October 2024

Hurricane Milton moved into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after making landfall Wednesday evening on Florida’s west coast as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, roughly 70 miles south of Tampa. Milton was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone with winds of 75 mph as of 2 p.m. ET, per the National Weather Service. It was 200 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral and moving east-northeast at 21 mph and is expected to weaken “rapidly” as it barrels away from the U.S. coast.

Milton forced millions to evacuate and left widespread destruction across Florida, wreaking havoc across the state and bringing tornadoes, powerful winds and flooding rains. More than 2.8 million customers were without power in Florida on Thursday, according to utility tracker Find Energy, with Tampa experiencing widespread damage. Milton ripping the roof off Tropicana Field, which was going to be used to house emergency workers.

At least 16 people died from the storm, officials confirmed to CBS News, with six deaths confirmed in St. Lucie County where tornadoes touched down, and at least two people were killed in St. Petersburg during the storm. At least three people died in Volusia County, and there was one reported death in Citrus County after a tree fell on their car.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters at a briefing Thursday: “The storm was significant, but thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario. The storm did weaken before landfall, and the storm surge, as initially reported, has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.”

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Ethel Kennedy, family matriarch and the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 96. According to a statement from the family, Kennedy was hospitalized on Oct. 8, when she suffered a stroke in her sleep. She passed away on Thursday, Oct. 10 from complications related to the stroke suffered last week.

Daughter Kerry Kennedy and former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Ethel’s grandson, shared a statement from the family posted to social media: “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our mother, Ethel Kennedy. Please keep our mother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week. Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly. She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy; her children David and Michael; her daughter-in-law Mary; her grandchildren Maeve and Saoirse; and her great-grandchildren Gideon and Josie. Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers.”

Ethel Skakel Kennedy was born in Chicago in 1928 and grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. She married Bobby Kennedy on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich. Bobby Kennedy served as attorney general in his brother John F. Kennedy’s administration; after JFK’s assassination in 1963, Ethel supported Bobby in his political career and his presidential aspirations before he was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June 1968.

Kennedy was the mother to 11 children — seven sons and four daughters – including one with whom she was pregnant when her husband was murdered. She was predeceased by son David Kennedy, who died of a drug overdose in 1984, and son Michael Kennedy, who died in 1997 in a skiing accident.

After her husband’s death, Ethel Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation which celebrates her husband’s and others’ dedication to human rights and public service by supporting programs for rights advocates around the world. Ethel Kennedy also co-chaired the Coalition of Gun Control and was involved with many other human rights organizations.  President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House in 2014, where she was praised for her perseverance and generosity.

President Biden said in a statement Thursday: “Ethel Kennedy was an American icon – a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service. Devoted to family and country, she had a spine of steel and a heart of gold that inspired millions of Americans, including me and Jill. We were blessed to call her a dear friend … For over 50 years, Ethel traveled, marched, boycotted, and stood up for human rights around the world with her signature iron will and grace. May God bless Ethel Kennedy, a dear friend, and a great American.”

Ethel Kennedy is survived by nine of her children, as well as the large extended Kennedy family.

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Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing with it life-threatening storm surge, powerful winds and flooding rains.

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, Wednesday night at about 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.  It has since weakened to a Category 1, with the storm continues to move across the Florida peninsula and by early Thursday, was mostly over the Atlantic Ocean

According to the National Hurricane Center, as of 5 a.m. Eastern Time, Milton had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and was moving off Florida’s east coast. Milton’s center was some 10 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.   However, forecasters warn that the effects of Milton could still cause potential flooding in parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast with storm surge as high as 3 to 5 feet.

As of press time, more than 3.25 million customers were without power in Florida early Thursday, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.

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Per The Associated Press, officials confirmed Wednesday that five people were killed after a small plane crashed during takeoff from Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast on Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday the twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed shortly after it departed from Catalina Airport in Avalon at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The FAA said later in an their online incident report that the crash occurred under “unknown circumstances” during takeoff, and those killed were the pilot and four passengers. The names of the victims, their relation to one another and the flight’s destination were not released.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said confirmed that five adults were found dead at the scene in rugged terrain about a mile (1.6 kilometers) west of the airport, sharing in a statement that their Avalon station received a 911 emergency notification from a cell phone indicating that its user had been involved in a collision with possible injuries and provided GPS coordinates.  According to the Sheriff’s Department’s news release, joint search and rescue team comprised of Avalon station deputies, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Avalon Search and Rescue and Avalon City Fire Department members found the plane about a mile west of Catalina Airport.

Santa Catalina Island, part of the Channel Islands, is located about 22 miles southwest of Los Angeles. Catalina Island Airport has a single, 3,000-foot-long runway and occupies a 1,602-foot-tall mountaintop at the center of the island. The airfield is known as the Airport in the Sky because of its precarious location at an elevation of 1,602 feet (488 meters) on the island about 25 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. It has a single 3,000-foot runway. About 4,000 residents live year-round on Santa Catalina Island.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will continue the investigation into the cause of the crash.

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