Here are some of the top stories from the past week from NBC 6 News:
Residents Concerned After Nicole Takes a Toll on Florida Beaches
The high waves coming in off the Atlantic Ocean from Hurricane Nicole were great for surfers but they took a toll on some of Florida's beaches.
Nicole made landfall early Thursday near Vero Beach, bringing heavy rain, high winds, and flooding.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Fortunately, the storm didn’t cause much structural damage to buildings in Fort Pierce, on Hutchinson Island, or in Martin and St. Lucie counties. But it did take a toll on the area's most valuable resource – the beach.
"The storm surge came over the parking lot. So, there were actually literally sharks swimming across the street," said one local resident.
"Mild inconvenience is losing our tourist industry because the beach has significant erosion and just so many things that we don’t realize that could get damaged," she said.
Local
By Thursday afternoon, a weakening Nicole had passed out of the area. But residents who witnessed the storm's fury expressed worry for the future.
For the full story, click here.
WATCH IMPLOSION: Miami Beach's Deauville Beach Resort Goes Down Marking End of an Era
The decaying hotel at Miami Beach's historic Deauville Beach Resort, which once played host to everyone from the Beatles to President John F. Kennedy, was imploded Sunday morning after it was declared an unsafe structure.
The implosion of the Deauville hotel tower at 6701 Collins Avenue occured Sunday at 8 a.m.
Streets in the area - Collins Avenue and Harding Avenue from 65-70th streets - were closed around 7:30 a.m. and are expected to be reopened by 10 a.m.
The historic building has been closed since 2017 after suffering damage from an electrical fire and Hurricane Irma. It fell into such bad shape that an engineering report found it "unsafe" and beyond repair, saying it "cannot be saved due to structural defects."
Historic preservationists led a years-long effort to save the building but after the structural report from an engineering company hired by the property owners was reviewed, Miami Beach's building department declared a demolition order.
For the full story, click here.
Section of Destroyed Shuttle Challenger Found on Ocean Floor Off Florida
A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger has been found buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic, more than three decades after the tragedy that killed a schoolteacher and six others.
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center announced the discovery Thursday.
“Of course, the emotions come back, right?” said Michael Ciannilli, a NASA manager who confirmed the remnant's authenticity. When he saw the underwater video footage, “My heart skipped a beat, I must say, and it brought me right back to 1986 ... and what we all went through as a nation."
It's one of the biggest pieces of Challenger found in the decades since the accident, according to Ciannilli, and the first remnant to be discovered since two fragments from the left wing washed ashore in 1996.
For the full story, click here.
Miami-Dade Mayor Vetoes Commission Vote to Expand Urban Development Boundary
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is vetoing a vote by commissioners to approve an expansion of the county's Urban Development Boundary that would pave the way for a new industrial site, saying the environmental factors outweigh the economic.
The board had voted 8-4 to approve the South Dade Logistics and Technology District district measure, a 378-acre development of farmland near the Florida Everglades.
Environmental groups have argued that the development would impact water quality and negatively affect storm surge and flooding, among other environmental issues.
In a statement Thursday, Levine Cava said her veto was based on those concerns.
For the full story, click here.
Why Flu Season Is So Bad This Year
If it seems like everyone around you is getting sick, you're not imagining it. The flu season is hitting the United States unusually early and much harder than it usually does.
"I'm scared about what's going to happen this flu season because I don't think we've ever seen a coalition of multiple viruses kind of manifesting in this way before," said Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne, an emergency medicine doctor and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Covid precautions did lead to lower rates of flu-like illnesses compared to normal, pre-pandemic times. But now that much of America has abandoned preventive measures such as masking, more people are getting sick with seasonal illnesses.
"All of the patterns of intermingling and transmission of different viruses really slowed down from that shutdown," said Dr. Andrea Berry, associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at University of Maryland School of Medicine. "As the world has opened up, the usual patterns are not quite the same."
One of those flu-like illnesses is respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is most severe in young children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals.
For the full story, click here.
‘Personal Fowl': TSA Officers Find Gun Inside Raw Chicken at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Transportation Security Administration officers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were stunned Monday when they found that one passenger got the “greasy” idea to pack a firearm inside a raw chicken for their flight out of Florida.
On Monday afternoon, the TSA posted a picture on Instagram of the gun they detected inside a raw hen in the security baggage screening room.
The pictures show the gun wrapped and placed inside the chicken.
In an Instagram post Monday a TSA spokesperson used several Thanksgiving-themed puns to warn other passengers about traveling safely with secured firearms.
For the full story, click here.
