South Florida

Fort Lauderdale's 25 inches of rain is a case of a strong thunderstorm not knowing when to say when. One factor: the atmosphere in our warming planet can hold more moisture that comes down as rain.

As coastal engineers and state and local flood management officials converged on downtown Miami for this year’s Florida Floodplain Managers Association conference at the Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel, the skies opened and unleashed a torrent of rain.

Although reported cases are trending down in Florida, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate. The latest subvariant, called XBB.1.5, has mutations that make it highly transmissible and somewhat resistant to vaccines and past infection.

As federal agencies and local governments reassess flood zones and incorporate new technology, data on sea-level rise and the fact that the concrete jungle doesn’t absorb as much water as the natural environment, they’ve concluded that vast swaths of South Florida — particularly inland areas — are vulnerable to crippling storm surge and flooding from rain.

Danny Ross, 58, says he heeded his extended family's warnings to abandon his own 30-foot boat to stay with two friends aboard their larger 50-foot yacht. It didn't help.

Gen. Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, a top communist party boss, led the military-controlled corporation that accounts for most of Cuba's economy.

Many employers still deal with staff shortages, so even modest increases in workers calling in sick can be a burden, Meantime, school districts are limited in how they can respond under state mandate restrictions.

Steward Health Care, the nation's largest physician-owned hospital network, bought several facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward. The expansion is personal for CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who grew up in Florida after his parents fled Cuba in 1960.

Two sisters started what has become one of the most buzzed-about restaurants in South Florida.

An NPR investigation found that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sells a disproportionately high number of properties in flood zones, including more than 230 in South Florida.

Local water managers and planners say the 70-year-old system needs to undergo a $6 million study to look at fixes to address sea rise.