The South Dade Center is a subsidized housing project for the huge farmworker community in Homestead, the rural town south of Miami that has been repeatedly blasted by hurricanes since Andrew hit in 1992. Most of the area’s residents are of Mexican or Central American descent and make little money working in the sun-baked fields and plant nurseries that feed the rest of Florida.
The National Hurricane Center is reporting that two new storm systems are forming in the far eastern Atlantic. While they are far from Miami, both show a 70 percent probability of becoming tropical depressions within five days. The NHC is predicting a more southerly track for the pair than Hurricane…
Standing defiantly in the distance off Islamorada is a century-old lighthouse that has survived much more than the wimpy winds of Hurricane Irma. The Alligator Lighthouse was built in 1873, before Miami even existed. The name honors a pirate-fighting schooner that sank there in 1822 and was blown up so…
Every year, more than a half million people flock to the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Hurricane Irma, though, severely damaged both Vizcaya — an early 20th century Italian-style estate built by James Deering — and Fairchild, one of the world’s greatest repositories of tropical…
The line snapped in the screaming gusts, and Randy knew he was in deep trouble. White-capped waves battered the chipped hull of Hardball, his 36-foot fishing boat, while 100 mph winds tore through the faded blue canvas over the captain’s chair. In the middle of Hurricane Irma’s Sunday afternoon assault…
This past weekend, thousands of South Floridians sought shelter as devastating Category 5 hurricane, Irma, ravaged the western coast. However, not everyone was as lucky. At Miami Seaquarium, beloved orca Lolita was left outside as 165 mph winds and flying debris battered the state.
There’s hope. The thousands of people on Florida’s east coast stuck without power should have it restored by this Sunday at the latest, Florida Power & LIght tweeted Tuesday morning. Those on Florida’s west coast, which took a stronger hit from Hurricane Irma, can expect electricity by September 22.
For Miami residents, life is far from back to normal after Hurricane Irma. There’s no power — and probably won’t be for days or even weeks. Cell service is spotty. Canned beans have become an every-meal staple. But a few parts of Dade County are getting back to…
Miami and its residents may not look so great today. The streets still look like collateral damage in a tree massacre. And most locals have been living without air conditioning or a hot shower for going on three days now. Unless they braved hours in line for a Publix chicken…
Hours after deadly Category 5 Hurricane Irma left South Florida, Category 2 storm Jose continues to brew in the Atlantic Ocean. Thus far, the time and place of its landfall is still uncertain.
Hurricane Irma may be over, but the cleanup has just begun. If you are in desperate need of supplies, some supermarkets are reopening their doors quickly. However, it’s important to remember that if you don’t have to be on the streets, you should stay home and keep roads clear for…
The sun is shining in South Florida and the wind is starting to die down. For the tens of thousands of Miami Beach residents who evacuated the barrier island before Hurricane Irma, it may seem like the perfect time to return home to assess damage and check out the neighborhood…
Across South Florida this morning, locals are waking up from whatever fitful few hours of sleep they managed in unbearably hot bedrooms closed in by hurricane shutters and heading outside to see just how badly Irma messed up their neighborhood. The good news is that few buildings seem to have…
As Hurricane Irma spins into South Florida on Saturday, New Times staff are scattered across Dade and Broward counties to document the huge storm’s impact on the region. We’ll update this post all day long with the latest on the ground in the path of the biggest Atlantic hurricane on…
If the latest projections are accurate, Hurricane Irma’s devastating eyewall won’t hit Miami’s downtown, urban core. Since this morning, the models have shifted west and suggest the heart of the storm is more likely to nail the Southwest Florida coast after plowing straight over the Florida Keys. But the latest…
With the monstrous Hurricane Irma just days away, much of Miami Beach heeded mandatory evacuation orders from officials and headed out. But some of the Beach’s smallest residents — the hundreds of feral cats who call the island home — have no way out. So this week, animal lover Mary Garcia…
Miamians who’ve lived here for more than 25 years have likely spent the week telling war stories about surviving Hurricane Andrew in 1992, reminding themselves how they rode out the storm. But there’s ample evidence Irma is a storm unlike anything South Florida has seen before. For one, it’s projected…
In 1992, as Hurricane Andrew roared toward Miami, staff at Zoo Miami found an unlikely place to house the zoo’s 30 flamingos: the men’s bathroom. Ron Magill, then the assistant curator, was walking out the door after helping get the birds situated when he turned around to take one last look…
If you’ve ever lived in South Florida during hurricane season, chances are you’ve learned to read the various storm projection models like a fortuneteller scanning tarot cards. “I’m sorry, but the European model shows a far stronger eastern trend than the GFS,” you’ve probably said in a serious tone at…
As Hurricane Irma churns freakishly close to Florida, an estimated 650,000 Miami-Dade residents are now a part of Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s mandatory evacuation order. On barrier islands like Miami Beach, officials were warning people to get out of Dodge as early as Wednesday. But even now — as a…
The National Hurricane Center has now made official what everyone in Miami has feared since late last week: The entirety of South Florida is now under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning as massive Hurricane Irma bears down on the state. In its 11 p.m. advisory, the Hurricane…
With roughly 72 hours before Hurricane Irma is projected to hit Miami as a Category Four or Five storm, weather forecasts continue to get worse for central Miami. In response, County Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced just after 2:15 today that he’s expanding the mandatory evacuation zones across the area: Those…
