It’s Thursday, November 12th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Residents in a portion of Broward County are being asked by city officials to reduce their use of water as much as possible, as wastewater treatment systems have become backed up due to the heavy rain brought on by Tropical Storm Eta.
The Southern Regional Wastewater treatment plant operated by the City of Hollywood serves six cities in Broward County, and is accustomed to processing 55 million gallons of wastewater a day. However, city officials say due to Eta's heavy rain and flooding, the treatment plant is dealing with over 100 million gallons a day. The city of Hollywood is asking residents in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Miramar and Pembroke Park to reduce their use of water over the next two days.
No. 2 - Residents needing a COVID test will be able to return to Hard Rock Stadium starting Thursday after severe flooding from Tropical Storm Eta forced its closure for several days.
The Miami Gardens site closed this past weekend ahead of the storm and was kept closed due to the rainfall, forcing sites such as Tropical Park to see additional crowds of people needing tests. The reopening comes as positive cases are on the rise in several states, including Florida, as the United States set a single day record for cases on Wednesday. There were 144,305 newly reported COVID-19 cases in the United States on Wednesday, according to an NBC News tally, beating the previous record of 133,819 cases reported on Monday.
No. 3 - Starting on Veteran's Day, Miami-Dade County is providing some aid to vets who are trying to keep their small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
The county is stepping and offering grants up to $25,000 dollars to help veterans owning small business. The county has also secured money that will be released soon to military members and veterans in order to aid them with housing and daily living expenses, like gasoline and groceries. For more on how to apply and to hear why this opportunity is important for one particular veteran in the area, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator and Air Force veteran Willard Shepard.
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No. 4 - When police are accused of misconduct, it can cost them credibility and it can also cost taxpayers money, once lawsuits start flying.
But NBC 6 Investigators found it’s not easy for those who accused police to prove their case. Courts and legislatures have made it hard for those who claim police violated their civil rights. Police say, for good reason, arguing their split-second decisions should not be second-guessed in court. But those who sue police say the deck is stacked too much against them. Click here for the story from NBC 6’s Tony Pipitone.
No. 5 - Tropical Storm Eta dumped torrents of blustery rain on Florida's west coast as it marched over the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall north of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Eta made landfall around 4:20 a.m. near Cedar Key. Eta briefly gained hurricane strength Wednesday morning, but forecasters said it later weakened to tropical storm status with maximum winds of 70 mph. There were no immediate reports of any injuries, serious damage or flooding in the Tampa Bay area as the storm skirted past that region Wednesday afternoon. Several tornado warnings were issued, but there were no reports of one touching down.
No. 6 - Local weatherwise, a flood watch has been extended into Thursday for parts of South Florida with rain chances increasing before a drier end of the work week. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
