Emergency officials use the Saffir-Simpson scale to decide which areas to evacuate. It ranks hurricanes from Category 1 (minimal) to Category 5 (catastrophic). ...more

May 23, 2008

Hurricane Charley, one of the most destructive storms to strike the United States, is getting the Disney treatment. ...more

May 18, 2008

When it comes to hurricane coverage, you have to admire Dick Fletcher's tenacity. ...more

February 20, 2008

SEBRING — It came in the mail last week, although it's dated Jan. 15, a collection notice from FEMA. "I have no idea why they sent this," said Gail Fotheringham, 57, a grandmother who lived in a FEMA mobile home for 18 months with her daughter and three grandchildren. "You have not paid the amount you owe the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Mobile Home Rental," said the letter, which seeks a balance due of $1,357.58. Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman in Atlanta, said FEMA, on an ongoing basis, is collecting money owed to the federal agency for a variety of reasons. After the hurricanes of 2004, which ravaged Central Florida, FEMA provided $1.184 billion in assistance to individuals and households in Florida, and hundreds of mobile homes to families in Highlands and Hardee counties. "If people needed money, FEMA advanced it to them," Hudak said. But they were expected to pay back the federal government. ...more

February 16, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Zach Bonner showed no sign of fatigue this morning as he spoke on the steps of the old state Capitol, the end point of his 280-mile march from Tampa to Tallahassee to raise awareness of youth homelessness. ...more

November 26, 2007

More than half of the 4,000 underprivileged schoolchildren who usually see live theater at Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association in Brandon most likely will miss out on the experience this year. ...more

October 22, 2007

If you follow storms, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes on The Weather Channel, you no doubt have seen Jim Cantore out in the field, battling the forces of nature. ...more

October 17, 2007

In the chaotic hours before Hurricane Charley plowed over Florida three years ago, shelters opened their doors to an influx of frail seniors who had nowhere else to go. Some were so fragile, with so many health problems, that reporters began making inquiries. ...more

October 9, 2007

In the chaotic hours before Hurricane Charley plowed over Florida three years ago, shelters opened their doors to an influx of frail seniors who had nowhere else to go. Some were so fragile, with so many health problems, that reporters began making inquiries. What nursing homes, they demanded to know, were dumping all of these vulnerable, elderly people into public shelters? ...more

October 8, 2007