DeSantis rolls out four-year water plan

Workers from the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department pick up dead fish from the Ocean Inlet Park in Ocean Ridge, Florida in October 2018.
Some beaches north of Miami were closed at the time because of a rare red tide outbreak along Florida’s Atlantic coast.
[Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP] DeSantis is asking the Legislature to spend $625 million this year on water projects, the first step toward a roughly $2.5 billion, four-year investment in tackling problems plaguing Lake Okeechobee, nearby rivers and estuaries, freshwater springs and the Everglades.
Ron DeSantis on Tuesday began attempting to put dollars behind that pledge.
DeSantis is asking the Legislature to spend $625 million this year on water projects, the first step toward a roughly $2.5 billion, four-year investment in tackling problems plaguing Lake Okeechobee, nearby rivers and estuaries, freshwater springs and the Everglades.
DeSantis also began reshaping the South Florida Water Management District, whose nine-member board he wants overhauled, having demanded the resignations of current members.
In his budget proposal to the Republican-controlled Legislature, DeSantis is calling for increases in many areas of state environmental spending.
The governor also said the Department of Environmental Protection is seeking applicants for a nine-member, blue-green algae task force, proposed in his executive order.
DeSantis on Tuesday also said that DEP is looking for a chief science officer, another element of his executive order.
Getting the water right protects our future.” Lisa Rinaman, with St. Johns Riverkeeper, said she welcomed the new administration’s attention to sea level concerns.

Survivors scramble for food and water in the wake of Hurricane Michael

Three days after Hurricane Michael unleashed its wrath in the Florida Panhandle, residents in some of the hardest hit areas are growing desperate for food and water.
The storm that smacked Florida’s Panhandle was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the United States, leaving a trail of destruction stretching as far as Virginia.
On Saturday, emergency crews will continue descending into the coastal cities in the Panhandle, like Mexico Beach, that were wiped out and will try to reach remote areas that were isolated by downed trees and power poles.
I was picking three bale cotton (this week); today it is gone," cotton farmer and state Rep. Clay Pirkle said.
Her husband, Steven Sweet, was killed when an oak tree smashed their home in Gretna, Florida, and landed on top of her husband.
Eight people, including Sweet, have died in Florida.
Five people died in Virginia.
The front door of Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City was boarded up Friday and water service hadn’t been restored but a handmade sign directed patients to the emergency room, which remains operational.
The hospital is staying open receiving patients in an emergency room that is running on generator power.
While there might not be more storms in a warmer climate, most studies show storms will get stronger and produce more rain.

Residents getting desperate for food and water in Michael’s wake

Three days after Hurricane Michael unleashed its wrath in the Florida Panhandle, residents in some of the hardest hit areas are growing desperate for food and water.
The storm that smacked Florida’s Panhandle was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the United States, leaving a trail of destruction stretching as far as Virginia.
Meanwhile in Georgia, officials are receiving reports that 84 chicken houses — estimated to hold more than 2 million chickens — were destroyed in the storm which also caused severe damage to pecan, cotton, vegetable and peanut crops.
I was picking three bale cotton (this week); today it is gone,” cotton farmer and state Rep. Clay Pirkle said.
The 44-year-old is among at least 17 who have died since Hurricane Michael made landfall on Wednesday.
Eight people, including Sweet, have died in Florida.
Five people died in Virginia.
The front door of Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City was boarded up Friday and water service hadn’t been restored but a handmade sign directed patients to the emergency room, which remains operational.
The hurricane-force winds were so powerful that they lifted the roof on the hospital’s tower where most of the patients were, and water poured into the facility.
The hospital is staying open receiving patients in an emergency room that is running on generator power.

Survivors scramble for food and water in the wake of Hurricane Michael

Three days after Hurricane Michael unleashed its wrath in the Florida Panhandle, residents in some of the hardest hit areas are growing desperate for food and water.
The storm that smacked Florida’s Panhandle was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the United States, leaving a trail of destruction stretching as far as Virginia.
On Saturday, emergency crews will continue descending into the coastal cities in the Panhandle, like Mexico Beach, that were wiped out and will try to reach remote areas that were isolated by downed trees and power poles.
I was picking three bale cotton (this week); today it is gone," cotton farmer and state Rep. Clay Pirkle said.
Her husband, Steven Sweet, was killed when an oak tree smashed their home in Gretna, Florida, and landed on top of her husband.
Eight people, including Sweet, have died in Florida.
Five people died in Virginia.
The front door of Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City was boarded up Friday and water service hadn’t been restored but a handmade sign directed patients to the emergency room, which remains operational.
The hospital is staying open receiving patients in an emergency room that is running on generator power.
While there might not be more storms in a warmer climate, most studies show storms will get stronger and produce more rain.

Drought expected to prolong chance of wildfires for months

Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Tuesday due to the recent surge in wildfires, the Florida Forest Service’s Myakka River District is expecting the dry conditions to continue until summer.
“This is the highest fire danger time in the year,” said Patrick Mahoney, wildfire mitigation specialist for the Myakka River District, which services Manatee, Sarasota and three other counties.
According to the Florida Forest Service, a wildfire can happen when two weeks pass without rain.
Due to the current conditions, the Florida Forest Service Myakka River District is not allowing pile burns, which require permission if the pile is greater than 8-feet by 8-feet.
So far this year, Manatee has had nine wildfires that burned 82 acres.
In 2013, there were 70 fires during the same time period, but they only burned 1,565 acres.
Scott, more than 100 fires in the state are currently burning more than 23,000 acres.
On standby at the Myakka River District office on 53rd Avenue West is ranger Eugene Clark, a 27-year veteran of the Florida Forest Service.
“What little bit of rains we get only lasts a few hours, and then the winds come right behind it and dries it all out like it didn’t even rain.” Most of the fires typically happen in the afternoon and inland, he said.
Related content Florida Forest Service expects drought conditions to continue wildfire prevalence