It’s Tuesday, January 7th – and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day.
No. 1 – Weatherwise, A pleasant Tuesday in store for South Florida with slightly warmer temperatures - but a new front could lower those temps in the coming days. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
No. 2 - A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, the largest in a series of quakes that have struck the U.S. territory in recent days and caused heavy damage in some areas.
Another earthquake, recorded at magnitude 6.0, was reported later Tuesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Puerto Rico's power authority said on Twitter that one of the country's main power plants, which sits near the epicenter, had been damaged. A 73-year-old died in Ponce after a wall fell on him during the earthquake, Telemundo Puerto Rico reported Tuesday morning.
No. 3 - One person is dead and three others are injured after a stolen vehicle fled from police and crashed into a second car in North Miami Friday night, police say.
According to Miami-Dade Police, a stolen Mercedes Benz was spotted by an unmarked police vehicle in Northwest Miami-Dade. They say once the officer attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver fled the area. Family of the female victim identified her as 28-year-old Therese Gutierrez.
No. 4 - Iran's message that payback is coming for the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general last week has South Florida law enforcement agencies tightening their lookout.
Local
Local authorities have stepped up security at landmarks such as Port of Miami and Port Everglades, as well as at Miami and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood international airports. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the site of the 2020 Super Bowl, will also be on high alert.
No. 5 - A combined 126 million gallons of sewage spilled onto the streets of Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods after six sewer main breaks plagued the area in December, according to a report released by city officials Monday.
The report shows the bulk of the damage was done in the Rio Vista neighborhood, where nearly 113 million gallons spilled in the incidents that began on Dec. 10. In the neighborhood's Hector Park, 35.4 million gallons of sewage was discharged, while Virginia Young Park dealt with 77.57 million gallons, the report said.
No. 6 - Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that Florida would form a statewide committee that helps raise awareness about the upcoming 2020 Census. Florida was one of the last states in the nation without one.
Complete count committees help encourage residents to participate in the once-a-decade head count of the U.S. population. Municipalities and nonprofits in Florida had formed their own complete count committees, but the U.S. Census Bureau encouraged states to form statewide committees to help coordinate efforts.
