It’s Friday, July 31st - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - South Florida remains on guard for the effects of what became Hurricane Isaias, a strengthen storm that threatens to drop massive amounts of rain on the area this weekend.
The 5 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center shows the story has winds of 80 miles per hour as it sits 385 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas and is moving northwest at 17 miles per hour. A Tropical Storm watch was issued Thursday for Miami-Dade and Broward counties, extending northward to Sebastian Inlet and including Lake Okeechobee. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as advisories.
No. 2 - Miami-Dade County is preparing for possible effects from Hurricane Isaias this weekend as most of South Florida remained in the forecast cone Thursday.
At a video news conference Thursday afternoon, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez urged residents to be prepared for whatever the storm may bring. In a tweet, Gimenez said all state and county-supported COVID-19 testing sites would be closed starting Thursday evening. Gimenez said all parks, marinas and golf courses would be closing Friday night.
No. 3 - The family of a missing mother whose toddler was found alone in South Florida is saying they believe the 21-year-old could have been with a man she was in communication with online.
Leila Cavett's father and grandfather told NBC 6 the man messaged her on Facebook to come down to Florida for the weekend and that he possibly send her money. Curtis Cavett said he knows his daughter sells clothes and other items on Facebook's Marketplace. Police have not confirmed these details. Cavett's toddler — 2-year-old Kamdyn — was found wandering alone in Miramar on Sunday. The toddler is currently in child protective custody and her family is trying to see him.
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No. 4 - Florida's coronavirus-related deaths increased by a new record of 253 residents Thursday, the third day in a row the state set a single-day record for virus-related deaths.
The 253 deaths come a day after the state confirmed 216 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday. Florida reported 186 deaths on Tuesday. The state also added another 9,956 new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 461,379 dating back to March, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health Thursday. It was the fifth straight day that fewer than 10,000 cases were confirmed.
No. 5 - New surveillance video shows a security guard shooting into a car during a Hialeah supermarket theft that left two young children injured in the gunfire.
The brief surveillance footage shows the Tuesday encounter in the parking lot of Rey Chavez Supermarket. According to Hialeah Police, 39-year-old Steadman Amaya was behind the theft and is wanted in the incident. Amaya is the ex-boyfriend of Angela Pupo, who now faces child neglect, petit theft, and making a false report to police charges after she admitted to detectives that she formulated a plan to steal seafood from the market.
No. 6 - Shanlauie Drayton stood with family and community leaders for a prayer vigil Thursday, honoring the life of her 7-year-old daughter Alana Washington, who was shot and killed in a drive-by outside her home Saturday night.
Along with praying for peace, community leaders also prayed for justice. Three other members of Alana’s family were also shot and are still in the hospital, including a one-year-old. On Friday, local activists will hit the streets for a walk demanding justice for Alana. To hear their message to the community in this time of sorrow, click here for the report from NBC 6’s Kim Wynne.
