It’s Monday, October 3rd – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Rescue missions are racing against the clock as survivors run out of food and other essential supplies four days after Hurricane Ian left a path of devastation across southwest Florida.
"Some people come out and have no idea what’s going on," said Lt. Junior Grade Joshua Welch with the U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force. The elite team of specially trained men and women are often the first contact for victims since Hurricane Ian turned their lives upside down. The strike force navigates areas that are hard to access using 15-foot rubber inflatable boats looking for people cut off by the storm. On this mission, they see some homes that are relatively put together - others completely destroyed. On Sunday, the strike force headed to hard-hit Matlacha and Pine Island – where the destruction is hard to fathom.
No. 2 - The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Florida Task Force One (FL-TF1) Team is one of eight task force teams that has joined over a thousand search and rescue members to assist in the search and rescue efforts in the hardest-hit areas of Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island following Hurricane Ian.
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Four squads continue to survey the area and are combing through Sanibel Island to check on the residents who may be in need of food, water, medical assistance or evacuation from the island. Search and rescue crews are using specialized technology to conduct grid work and go door to door to check on whether the homes are occupied or not, if there are any emergencies that need to be taken care of, or if there are residents that may have ran out of supplies and need to evacuate from the island. Due to the inaccessibility to the island, evacuations have been conducted by helicopters.
No. 3 - Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction on Florida’s west coast, and residents were not the only ones affected.
Domestic Animal Services in Naples was left without power and as a result 20 cats and 13 dogs were transported to the Humane Society of Broward County Friday with the hopes that these furry friends will find a home in South Florida. The Humane Society of Broward County is located at 2070 Griffin Road in Fort Lauderdale. For the next three days HSBC staff will assist the shelter in Naples with cleaning, feeding and medical examinations for the animals. To see the pets available for adoption or to fill out fill out the pre-adoption application, click here
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No. 4 - A fire at a mobile home in Northwest Miami-Dade forced a woman and her daughter to run for their lives last week.
Tiffany Munoz lived in the mobile home with her mother and was thankful to make it out alive, but they lost everything, including five of their beloved pets. The fire took the lives of their four dogs and one cat. Munoz and her mom were asleep around 11 a.m. on Wednesday when the fire started at their mobile home in the 8000 block of northwest Miami Court. “When I went to try and get the animals toward the back door, people would push me away because they thought this was going to blow up," Munoz said. One cat named Benjamin survived and Munoz said one of her cats saved their lives. Munoz mustered up all the strength she had and managed to push open a back door, so they could escape. The trailer was already covered in smoke and it was hard to see what was happening she said.
No. 5 - Broward County Public Schools staff knocked on the doors of about 450 homes all over Broward County Saturday to bring kids back into the classroom.
BCPS says they’ve tried emailing, calling, and texting families who have not re-enrolled their kids for this school year. Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright says the goal is to help those families fix whatever issues are preventing their child from being in school. “We want to work with that family,” Cartwright said. “We want to find out what are some of the barriers that are preventing their child from going to school. We’re going to make sure we match the right resources for those families so we can remove those barriers so those students can get back engaged in the classroom.” Some of those barriers could be financial struggles, being afraid to go back to school because of COVID-19, or simply not knowing that it is legally required for kids to be enrolled in school.
No. 6 - Doctors have a message for vaccine-weary Americans: Don’t skip your flu shot this fall -- and seniors, ask for a special extra-strength kind.
After flu hit historically low levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be poised for a comeback. The main clue: A nasty flu season just ended in Australia. While there’s no way to predict if the U.S. will be as hard-hit, “last year we were going into flu season not knowing if flu was around or not. This year we know flu is back,” said influenza specialist Richard Webby of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Annual flu shots are recommended starting with 6-month-old babies. Flu is most dangerous for people 65 and older, young children, pregnant women and people with certain health problems including heart and lung diseases.
