Texas and Louisiana began a massive recovery effort Saturday, including searching for the stranded and missing, after Hurricane Ike, a colossal storm stretching about 600 miles, pulverized the Gulf Coast with maximum winds of about 100 mph as it flattened houses, ripped the glass windows from downtown office buildings and left a wide swath of flooding and devastation in its wake. ...more

September 14, 2008

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has asked Gov. Charlie Crist to seek federal disaster declarations from the federal government for 36 Florida counties battered by high winds, excessive rainfall, flooding or tornados from Tropical Storm Fay. Highlands County is included on the list. ...more

September 5, 2008

Neighboring Okeechobee was one of four counties declared major disaster areas Sunday by President George W. Bush in the wake of Tropical Storm Fay, but it's unlikely that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will help any homeowners in Highlands County. ...more

August 26, 2008

The lingering tropical moisture that will spark thunderstorms this afternoon over the Tampa Bay area should be the last effects of Tropical Storm Fay. ...more

August 24, 2008

Dolly spun into a hurricane Tuesday, heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border and the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley, where officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks. ...more

July 23, 2008

The Cedar River poured over its banks here Thursday, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 homes, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets. ...more

June 13, 2008

'Bridge of Sighs,' by Richard Russo (Knopf, $27) ...more

September 30, 2007

Utility crews restored electricity Friday to half of the homes and businesses left without power after Hurricane Humberto, and experts estimated total damage from the storm would cost less than $500 million. ...more

September 15, 2007