Gulf Coast Life

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour near Siesta Key in Sarasota County. Milton spawned scores of tornadoes left more than 3 million utility customers without power. The AP reports at least five people died due to Milton's impacts. While there has been significant flooding along the coast — and hundreds of thousands of people remain without power — Milton did not turn out to be as damaging as projections showed as it approached the peninsula. We debrief the storm with a meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also check in with someone from Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall. And we check in with FPL and LCEC to see how their power systems fared and how many people are still without power.

Hurricane Milton continues its approach and will be making landfall this evening or early Thursday morning as a major hurricane with extreme storm surge levels and damaging winds. Projections show Milton’s landfall somewhere between Sarasota and Tampa Bay. The latest projections show storm surge levels between 8-12 feet from Bonita Beach to Boca Grande — and 10-15 feet from Boca Grande to Anna Maria Island, which is on the southern end of Tampa Bay. That means more than 150 miles of coastline experiencing storm surge that could top 8 feet and be as high as 15 feet. We get an update from Tim Miller at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also check in with the Salvation Army of Collier County to learn about the preparations they're making for after Milton passes through. And we get some tips on staying calm and maintaining peace of mind during these tense times.

As of 2:00 p.m. Hurricane Milton is a Category Five storm with maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour. This storm has intensified more quickly than the models predicted over the weekend — and it could intensify further as it continues its path toward Florida’s west coast. Its current projected path shows Hurricane Milton making landfall north of Tampa on Wednesday afternoon or early evening. Some models show it arriving to shore early Thursday morning. We check in with Tim Miller at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network — and get a bit of historical context on similar storms that have hit southwest Florida in the past from WGCU’s Tom Hall, author of Historic Hurricanes of Fort Myers: How Three 19th Century Hurricanes Influenced the Town's Development.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was first observed in October of 1985 with the goal of promoting awareness of breast cancer, encouraging early detection, and helping to raise money for research. Data from the CDC shows that in the U.S., 42,211 women died from breast cancer in 2022. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S., after lung cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2024, an estimated 310,720 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

When Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh founded Premier Mobil Health Services in 2018 as a mobile clinic operating out of an RV she bought with her own money on eBay. They serve uninsured and underinsured children, families and individuals at multiple locations across Lee County, as well as at a walk-in, bricks-and-mortar clinic in Fort Myers. Dr. Singh recently traveled to Boston to attend an executive education course for nonprofits at the Harvard Business School — which was supported by a scholarship from the Harvard Club of Naples — so we brought her into the studio to talk about her path that led to founding Premier Mobile Health Services, the work they do, and what she took away from her trip to Boston.

Miami-based photographer and author Kirsten Hines spends her life immersed in the natural world. She started off as a wildlife biologist but found herself more interested in talking pictures of the natural world than doing science with it. She has now published nine books in all, the latest of which is “Birds of Florida.” It’s a guidebook featuring 310 birds you can find in Florida, with photographs she took and brief descriptions she wrote that provide insight into the various species, and tips on where to find them.

We get some insight into the world of dementia caregiver support — and we we learn about a relatively rare form of dementia called Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). It’s a type of dementia that affects the areas that control behavior, personality, language, and decision-making. People with FTD might start acting differently, like becoming rude or impulsive, or they may have trouble speaking and understanding language. It usually appears in people younger than 65, and unlike other forms of dementia, memory problems aren't usually the first sign, but instead changes in behavior or communication skills are more noticeable early on.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida at the small island of Cayo Costa on Sept. 28, 2022. As we approach the two year anniversary, we having a conversation with a group of Sanibel Island residents to hear their stories about Ian, and what has unfolded since — and how the island community has become more connected because of what they all experienced together. Every single Sanibel resident, and every single property, was impacted by the devastating storm. But, from what we’ll hear today, it seems the Sanibel spirit and sense of community has only been strengthened by this experience.

Supporters of an effort to get an amendment to Florida's constitution onto the 2026 ballot that would assure citizens a right to clean water are hoping to get a boost from Florida Sportsman Magazine Editor, Blair Wickstrom, in the magazine’s October issue. It will contain an editorial Call to Action seeking 900 volunteer petition gatherers to station themselves at voting sites around the state to collect signatures during early voting that begins on Oct. 21. The magazine did a similar call to action in 1991 that resulted in creating the Gill Net Ban amendment, which passed with 72% support during the 1994 election. We learn more about the amendment and what exactly it would do, and the issues it aims to address when it comes to regulatory agencies not doing enough to protect the environment.

We shine some light on a southwest Florida nonprofit that’s been working to make the lives of this area's seniors better for more than half a century. Founded in 1973, Senior Friendship Centers began in a small bungalow in Sarasota, and first began expanding when it began receiving federal funding to provide meals to older adults. Erin McLeod joined the organization as Director of Communications in 2004. It was her first job at a nonprofit and she says she immediately fell in love with the mission and has been there ever since, now as its CEO.