CHARLOTTE COUNTY

Hundreds of hospital patients were being evacuated from facilities across the Fort Myers region Thursday after damage from Hurricane Ian cut off water supplies.

Evacuations for Hurricane Ian have been ordered in Florida for counties on the west coast. Here's what evacuees should be gathering and packing if they haven't already.

Missing child found inside Florida teacher’s home Kelly Simpson was charged with interference with custody of a minor. (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office)CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators searching for a missing teenager in Florida located him inside a home belonging to a teacher. >> Read more trending newsThe teenager, who was not identified, had been reported missing by his parents on Aug. 12, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Deputies said in the news release that Simpson was placed under arrest for knowingly concealing the teenager despite knowing he had been reported missing. In a statement to WINK, the district said: “Charlotte County Public Schools takes an incident such as this very seriously.

Um, wow!

What just flew through the windshield?

A Deep Creek family woke during the night to find a 10-foot, 11-inch, 550-pound alligator in their family pool.

A roughly 12-foot reptile was found laying on the ground of a Charlotte County home early in the morning on March 14 in the Babcock Ranch community.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doubled down on claims he made last month the Biden administration withheld funding for tornado victims in Lee and Charlotte counties because of “politics” and announced $1.1 million was raised for repairs, temporary housing and other forms of relief.

A new donation portal opened for those impacted by tornadoes that touched down in southwest Florida last month.

A Florida woman is accused of skinny-dipping in a stranger’s pool, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man who was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit didn’t realize he crashed into a “drive sober or get pulled over” sign that was set up near the road, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said Bounty Cheramy was driving on Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte around 12:30 a.m. Aug. 30 when he struck the sign board trailer with his blue Mazda. When questioned, Cheramy said he was talking on the phone with a friend when he hit something but he didn’t know what he hit or how, records show. Cheramy admitted that he had some kind of alcoholic drink that his friend made him as the two were studying, according to the affidavit. After a failed field sobriety test, a breath test was conducted that showed Cheramy’s blood alcohol level was at .166 and .161, records show.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida teen is recovering after officials said he was attacked by a 10-foot alligator. [RELATED: Florida woman discovers alligators fighting at her home]The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the alligator bit the 14-year-old while he was walking near a pond. The alligator will be trapped and relocated to a nearby alligator farm. Wildlife officials reminded Floridians that as temperatures go up, alligators become more visible. And keep pets on a leash and away from the water,” officials said.

click to enlarge Photo courtesy FWCToday the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that the third female panther in almost fifty years was recently spotted north of the Caloosahatchee River in Charlotte County, signally a major milestone for the endangered species.Biologists with the FWC released images from a trail camera showing an adult female Florida panther north of the Caloosahatchee River. Back in 2015, the FWC celebrated the first image of a nursing female panther north of the waterway, signaling a giant step towards the species expanding to new areas to roam and, well, make more babies. While the wide-ranging cats need ample space, especially males, female panthers have been less likely to cross the river and join the dating pool.This is good news for Florida panther conservation, said Kipp Frohlich, deputy director for the FWCs Division of Habitat and Species Conservation in a statement from 2015. Until now, we only had evidence of panthers breeding south of the Caloosahatchee. These pictures of a female with kittens indicate there are now panthers breeding north of the river.Of course, theres a lot that stands in the way of a new batch of panther kittens.

Police found the body of Khyler Edman, 15, while searching homes in a neighborhood in Port Charlotte, Florida. PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - A Florida man accused of killing a 15-year-old boy during a home invasion has been charged with second-degree murder and burglary. Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said detectives spent five weeks investigating the case and now have enough evidence to charge Ryan Cole, 27. Cole is accused of killing Khyler Edman on Sept. 26. Prummell said Cole fatally stabbed Khyler while the teenager was trying to protect his younger sister during the invasion of their home.

Homeowners in Charlotte County, Florida, were startled when their toilet exploded after lightning struck the ground near their septic tank.