LEE COUNTY

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a news conference at a restaurant in Fort Myers.

The snails pose threats to parts of the agriculture industry and human health

'Oh Yeah!'

Beaches across parts of southwest Florida are dealing with hundreds of dead fish and eels which were washed ashore amid reports of a red tide.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Two Florida corrections officers are accused of throwing scalding water at inmates, authorities said Wednesday. Howell was charged with felony official misconduct, felony battery and misdemeanor battery, Marceno said during a news conference on Wednesday. Finamore has been charged with felony official misconduct and misdemeanor battery, the sheriff said. Howell has been charged with felony official misconduct, felony battery, & misdemeanor battery. Finamore has been charged with felony official misconduct, & misdemeanor battery.

The officers were fired after it was discovered that three inmates had first and second degree burns.

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, tens of thousands of homes were damaged in Lee County. Volunteers believe the housing crisis in Southwest Florida is far from over.

Lee County Sheriff's Department in North Carolina announced it located the dismembered remains of a man who went missing in December 2022, in a barrel with concrete.

LEE COUNTY, N.C. — Officials in North Carolina said a man who had been missing Christmas Eve was reportedly found dismembered and sealed in concrete about a month later. He was reported missing on Jan. 5 but no one had seen him or heard from him since before Christmas. Lee County Sheriff’s Office said that Bright has an extensive criminal history. I would also like to extend my condolences and prayers to the family of Michael Bradley Cox,” said Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes in the news release. Lee County Sheriff’s Office said that additional charges are expected.

Here are Wednesday's news and updates about Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach and Cape Coral in Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday held a news conference at a street corner near Fort Myers, recapping the state’s ongoing recovery efforts in South Florida after Hurricane Ian, previewing some future plans and awarding money to local education foundations.

The boater was the last resident missing in Lee since Ian’s landfall on Sept. 27 — bringing the county’s death toll to 75.

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The remains of a Florida woman missing since Hurricane Ian destroyed her home in September have been identified, a sheriff said Thursday. Workers removing debris on hard-hit Fort Myers Beach discovered the remains of 82-year-old Ilonka Knes earlier this week in a thicket of mangroves, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said at a news conference. The remains of her husband, 81-year-old Robert Knes, were found shortly after the storm struck. “She was one of two people still missing from Hurricane Ian,” Marceno said. Before the discovery of Knes’ remains, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission on Tuesday reported 145 confirmed deaths in the state from Hurricane Ian.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — The remains of a Florida woman missing since Hurricane Ian destroyed her home in September have been identified, a sheriff said Thursday. Workers removing debris on hard-hit Fort Myers Beach discovered the remains of 82-year-old Ilonka Knes earlier this week in a thicket of mangroves, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said at a news conference. “She was one of two people still missing from Hurricane Ian,” Marceno said. Hurst told family he would ride out the storm on his sailboat off Fort Myers Beach but was not heard from again. Before the discovery of Knes' remains, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission on Tuesday reported 145 confirmed deaths in the state from Hurricane Ian.

LADY LAKE, Fla. — Two men in Lee County, Florida, have been arrested for allegedly setting a house fire with 21 people inside, officials say. When deputies arrived, they learned prior to the fire that one of the suspects, Ulysses Rivera was inside the house with a machete allegedly threatening to kill people inside. Ulysses allegedly began pouring gasoline through the house as the second suspect, Orlando Rivera, allegedly set the fuel on fire, according to LCSO. Ulysses and Orlando then fled the house and allegedly locked the doors behind them, according to WFLA. LCSO said that about 21 people were inside the house at the time of the fire.

With more than 35,000 homes damaged or destroyed in Lee County, Fla., residents are concerned about housing affordability – and changes to their communities – as developers become involved.

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A video released by deputies in Southwest Florida shows a dangerous crash that sent a car off of a bridge. Crews worked to rescue the driver after a crash sent them veering off of the US-41 bridge and into the Caloosahatchee River in the Fort Myers area. Photos: Video shows car drive off Florida bridge into river after multi-car crashExpand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Video shows car drive off Florida bridge into river after multi-car crashVideo released by police shows the car go right over the guard rail and into the water. Watch: 4 hurt after truck crashes into Orlando barPolice said three cars were involved in the crash on Saturday. Read: 11 people seriously injured after Hawaiian Airlines flight hits severe turbulenceFirst responders said they were able to rescue the person in the car.

— A mother and a man have been arrested after a boy’s body was found buried under a house in Lee County, Arkansas, and another child was found injured, officials say. >> Read more trending newsThe Arkansas State Police in a news release Saturday said the body of a 6-year-old boy was discovered buried below a hallway floor inside of a house in Moro, Arkansas, Friday evening. Lee County sheriff’s deputies called special agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division just before 11 p.m. Friday. According to the AP, police say the boy may have been dead for up to three months. The mother, Ashley Roland, 28, and Nathan Bridges, 33, have been arrested by ASP and are being held at the Lee County Jail, according to ASP.

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A driver and his passenger were able to escape with minor injuries after a crash sent his truck spiraling down a Florida road. The video shows a tanker truck losing control and rolling over, before landing on its side and skidding down the road. Truck overturned on Buckingham Road today, spilling over 1300 gallons of cooking oil! @FLHSMV pic.twitter.com/u0RGvqH7AL — FHP SWFL (@FHPSWFL) December 15, 2022Troopers said the tanker was carrying more than 1,300 gallons of cooking oil, which spilled out onto the road. The video shows the men falling from the truck as it flips, and then standing up immediately after the impact.

A cooking oil truck rolled over in Lee County Thursday morning, spilling over 1,300 gallons of cooking oil and ejecting two men from the truck.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Southwest Florida narcotics officers. More than $1.1 million in cash was seized, along with 2 kilograms of cocaine and a gun, the sheriff’s office announced in a Facebook post. Postal Service Inspection Service alerted the sheriff’s office of suspicious packages coming from Puerto Rico, Marceno told reporters at the news conference. An investigation led deputies to a storage unit in North Fort Myers that contained drugs, money and the gun, the Miami Herald reported. “Christmas is canceled for these two drug dealers,” Marceno said in a TikTok video released by the sheriff’s office.

Nearly 50,000 property owners forced from their homes for more than a month by Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole could be eligible for tax relief under a bill that was being prepared Friday for a special legislative session next week.

Threats that prompted two south Florida high schools to enter precautionary lockdowns around noon Wednesday were deemed un-credible.

A Cape Coral police officer jumped into action after a driver and her car ended up in a nearby canal, according to the police department.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday morning held a news conference at Miceli’s Restaurant, a dockside eatery near Pine Island.

Images from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian sent shockwaves across the world. Cities, bridges and entire islands were completely leveled when Ian made landfall as a fierce Category 4 hurricane in southwestern Florida in late September. Now, just over a month after Ian's landfall, residents are still trying to pick up the pieces, and collection trucks continue to remove piles upon piles of heavy debris. However, the tons of debris that litter the roads and fill people's homes doesn't just disappea

CrowderGulf, one of the companies contracted to pick up debris, will have picked up more than 3 million cubic yards of debris in Lee County and all the towns in that vicinity by the close of business Tuesday.

Emergency Management Planner Nealon Joseph, a mass care specialist, was requested to deploy to Lee County’s Emergency Operations Center.

It has been a month since Hurricane Ian wiped out parts of southwest Florida. In response to the wide hurricane damage, county officials expanded the contract's scope on Oct. 2 to include waterways and private property. Officials estimate Lee County has 1.8 million cubic yards of storm debris. “We are bumping up against some very important timelines," Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli said at a recent meeting. “In light of Hurricane Ian, it’s an enormous addition to the contract’s scope, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” Sanabria said.

It has been a month since Hurricane Ian ravaged southwest Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced new developments in disaster-recovery efforts still underway nearly a month after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida.

DeSantis announced $2 million from the Florida Disaster Fund would be disbursed to education foundations in six South Florida counties hit hard by Hurricane Ian.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an executive order to extend deadlines for property taxes to people whose homes or businesses have been rendered unusable by damage caused by Hurricane Ian.

The causeway linking the island to the Florida mainland reopened with temporary repairs just three weeks after it was washed out by the hurricane. The reopening will help recovery work on the island.

Hurricane Ian caused storm surges of up to 12 feet, leaving behind warm, brackish floodwaters where Vibrio vulnificus thrives.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian. The state Department of Health reports that as of Friday there have been 65 cases of vibrio vulnificus infections and 11 deaths in Florida this year. In Lee County, where Ian stormed ashore last month, the health department reports 29 cases this year and four deaths. Health officials didn't give a breakdown of how many of the cases were before or after Ian struck. Lee County health officials earlier this month warned people that the post-hurricane environment — including warm, standing water — could pose a danger from the potentially deadly bacteria.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian. The state Department of Health reports that as of Friday there have been 65 cases of vibrio vulnificus infections and 11 deaths in Florida this year. In Lee County, where Ian stormed ashore last month, the health department reports 29 cases this year and four deaths. Health officials didn't give a breakdown of how many of the cases were before or after Ian struck. Lee County health officials earlier this month warned people that the post-hurricane environment — including warm, standing water — could pose a danger from the potentially deadly bacteria.

Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian.

The Sanibel Causeway, lifeline to Sanibel Island in southwest Florida, will be reopened after suffering major damages in Hurricane Ian.

As Florida continues to recover from Hurricane Ian, state health officials are warning that the deadly storm surge that came with it has led to a spike in infections caused by potentially fatal "flesh-eating" bacteria in the floodwaters. "Sewage spills, like those caused from Hurricane Ian, may increase bacteria levels," a warning from the state's health department reads. And while most cases are mild, many people with Vibrio vulnificus infections "require intensive care or limb amputations," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vibrio vulnificus can cause necrotizing fasciitis, a severe skin infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies, which is why it is described as "flesh-eating" bacteria. Still, Vibrio vulnificus infections are rare.

The governor's office responded to accusations from media pundits that the recent expansion of early voting access in hurricane-damaged counties was politically motivated.

Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, has recorded an "abnormal increase" in cases as a result of flooding from the storm.

Florida lottery officials announced that one of two Mega Millions lottery winning tickets was purchased in the Sunshine State from Oct. 14′s drawing.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Four years before Category 4 Ian wiped out parts of southwest Florida, the state's Panhandle had its own encounter with an even stronger hurricane, Michael. Tiny Mexico Beach, which was nearly leveled by Michael in 2018, still has fewer structures and people than it did before the storm. With little left in town after Michael, Cathey said, residents gathered daily at a portable kitchen to map out the way forward after the hurricane, and there was an unwritten rule. Residents might be ripe for a buyout or conversion after Ian, particularly since he and others had to repair damage after Hurricane Irma in 2017. But looking back, Wood said, he believes he made the right decision to rebuild and hopes people in Fort Myers Beach do the same.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Four years before Category 4 Ian wiped out parts of southwest Florida, the state's Panhandle had its own encounter with an even stronger hurricane, Michael. Tiny Mexico Beach, which was nearly leveled by Michael in 2018, still has fewer structures and people than it did before the storm. With little left in town after Michael, Cathey said, residents gathered daily at a portable kitchen to map out the way forward after the hurricane, and there was an unwritten rule. Residents might be ripe for a buyout or conversion after Ian, particularly since he and others had to repair damage after Hurricane Irma in 2017. But looking back, Wood said, he believes he made the right decision to rebuild and hopes people in Fort Myers Beach do the same.

Southwest Florida is getting some advice from the Florida Panhandle as it moves ahead after Hurricane Ian.

Builders trying to exploit a hot housing market for big profits ran roughshod over common-sense regulations intended to protect the public.

Lee County deputies arrested five Osceola County men Wednesday, accused of looting in Fort Myers

A Washington Post analysis of weather advisories, emergency notifications and interviews paints a stark picture of confusion on the ground as Ian approached Florida's Lee County.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officiated while six recent hires of the city’s police department accepted $5,000 bonus checks from the Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program.

DeSantis has eased some ballot access rules to accommodate voters in three southwestern Florida counties. A voter rights group accused him of "politicizing a natural disaster.”

A Florida sheriff announced that seven men were arrested after allegedly looting after Hurricane Ian and called them the "lowest form of scum.

Ron DeSantis on Thursday issued an executive order expanding voting access for the midterm elections in three counties where Hurricane Ian destroyed polling places and displaced thousands of people. The decision was praised by Tommy Doyle, the elections supervisor in Lee County, which was the epicenter of Ian's wrath along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Ian came ashore in Lee County with 155 mph (250 kph) winds that decimated coastal communities and inundated areas with flooding and debris. Lee County voted for Trump in 2020 by nearly 20 percentage points over President Joe Biden. DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature have in the last two years tightened various voting rules in Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced the disbursement of $2 million from the growing Florida Disaster Fund to several groups representing law enforcement and first responders.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Hurricane Ian might have come and gone but it could deliver prolonged blows to the local economy, walloping small businesses heavily dependent on tourists and seasonal residents. “It will not be the same,” Maguire said, standing outside the Pinchers seafood restaurant in the Fisherman's Wharf area of Fort Myers. Bars, restaurants and the many mom-and-pop shops that line San Carlos Boulevard, the thoroughfare into Fort Myers Beach, would usually begin filling. In Fort Myers, the sector added 2,700 new jobs in May over the same month the year before. James Kratzke, who has a house on Fort Myers Beach, said water reached nearly to the ceiling in his vacation home.

Hurricane Ian has come and gone, but it still could deliver prolonged blows to the local economy — particularly small businesses heavily dependent on tourists and seasonal residents.

As cleanup projects continue in Lee County, Florida, residents are getting help in recovering the little things, like toiletries and mementos.

A “massive convoy” of linemen and first responders used the temporarily repaired Sanibel Causeway that was destroyed during Hurricane Ian, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Hurricane Ian was the third-deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland this century.

Southwest Florida is looking ahead toward the long slog of recovering from a rare direct hit by a major hurricane.

The emotional toll in the days, weeks and months after a hurricane, flood or wildfire can be crippling. Emergency funds for mental health sometimes expire in as soon as two months and last no longer than a year. With disasters becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change, there could be a cumulative effect on mental health, Horney said. “If it was usual that symptoms would resolve in six months to a year, but then there’s another hurricane or another wildfire, then you’re in this cycle of intensifying mental health impacts,” Horney said. “The research is definitely clear that the more disasters you’re exposed to, the stronger the impacts on mental health."

Survivors of Hurricane Ian face a long emotional road to recover from one of the most damaging storms to hit the U.S. mainland.

With her home gone and all her belongings trashed by Hurricane Ian, Alice Pujols wept as she picked through soggy clothes, toys and overturned furniture piled head-high outside a stranger’s house, looking to salvage something — anything — for her four children and herself. For those who lost everything to a natural disaster and even those spared, the anguish can be crushing to return home to find so much gone. Two men in their 70s even took their own lives after viewing their losses, said the medical examiner in Lee County, where Ian first made landfall in southwestern Florida.

CBS News has contacted local sheriffs and, with their records, has confirmed at least 125 deaths — directly or in part — due to the hurricane in Florida.

State officials have reported over 100 storm-related deaths in Florida so far, most of these casualties were in Lee County.

Six people face charges after allegedly being caught stealing sneakers and other items from an outlet mall in Fort Meyers, Florida.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — (AP) — Residents were allowed to return to a coastal island that was decimated by Hurricane Ian on Saturday with a warning from the governor that the disaster isn't over. While residents were initially allowed back on the island after the storm, officials shut down access to allow teams to finish searching the wreckage building by building for possible victims. Once the work was done, residents lined up and were allowed to return on buses. “It’s gone,” she told the Fort Myers News-Press. “It’s just gone.”Just getting around the island, home to most of Fort Myers Beach, is difficult because of storm debris, but heavy equipment was used to clear roads.

Residents are being allowed to return to a coastal Florida island that was decimated by Hurricane Ian.

Residents were allowed to return to a coastal island that was decimated by Hurricane Ian on Saturday with a warning from the governor that the disaster isn't over. Many of the homes still standing on Estero Island lack basic services, so portable restrooms, hand-washing stations, shower trailers and other essentials were trucked in for residents who want to stay, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference. “There's a lot more to do, and really some of the hardest stuff is still ahead of us," DeSantis said.

Almost all of the dozens of people killed by Ian in hardest hit Lee County were 50 or older, with many in their 70s, 80s and even 90s. It's also intensified drought fueled wildfires like the inferno that incinerated the California town of Paradise in 2018, killing 85 people, again mostly older. Ron DeSantis has recognized the disproportionate effect Ian had on the state's older residents, and the need for local groups to help their recovery. Researchers have concluded that nearly half of those killed by Katrina in Louisiana were 75 or older. Older people are also at risk from heat in the days and weeks after major storms.

Older people with limited mobility and those with chronic health conditions requiring the use of electrically powered medical devices were especially vulnerable when Hurricane Ian slammed into Southwest Florida.

Most deaths were in Lee County, where local officials delayed hurricane evacuations until the day before the storm hit. Leaders in other nearby counties ordered evacuations a day earlier.

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — (AP) — William Wellema has been living under a bridge for four days, waiting to get to Fort Myers Beach on Florida's Estero Island to see if his vacation home survived Hurricane Ian. On Friday, he was beyond frustrated as he continued to await permission to drive across. He is in touch with friends in other parts of the country waiting on his word to make their own journeys south. Most were in the worst-hit Lee County that includes the greater Fort Myers area and nearby Gulf Coast islands. “I totally understand why they’re not letting anyone on.”Betty Parker and her husband, Wiley, live in Fort Myers, but they’re about 20 miles (32 kilometers) inland.

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — (AP) — William Wellema has been living under a bridge for four days, waiting to get to Fort Myers Beach on Florida's Estero Island to see if his vacation home survived Hurricane Ian. On Friday, he was beyond frustrated as he continued to await permission to drive across. He is in touch with friends in other parts of the country waiting on his word to make their own journeys south. Most them were in the worst-hit Lee County that includes the greater Fort Myers area and nearby Gulf Coast islands. Backyard waterways overflowed into neighborhoods, sometimes by more than a dozen feet (3.5 meters), tossing boats onto yards and roadways.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is holding a news conference at a restaurant in Lee County.

The devastation from Hurricane Ian has left schools shuttered indefinitely in parts of Florida, leaving storm-weary families anxious for word on when and how children can get back to classrooms.

Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office are set to deploy Wednesday to Lee County, which is still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the sheriff’s office said in a release.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday the activation of the state’s first Disaster Recovery Center in Fort Myers, with more expected to open in the coming weeks, for Floridians impacted by the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Ian.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said rescue teams deployed in Ian’s aftermath had already performed more than 1,900 rescues across Florida as of Monday, less than a week after the storm made landfall in Florida.

Officials said there are now 58 deaths attributed to Hurricane Ian, according to an update by FDLE on Sunday evening.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday will hold a news conference at the Hardee County Emergency Management office in Wachula.

A 7-foot alligator greeted students at a Lee County middle school drop-off, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a tweet.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement has issued a missing child alert for 6-year-old Zainab Hassan.

Maybe Florida Man has finally met his match.

Metro Phoenix’s Maricopa County had among the biggest growth in white, Black and Hispanic residents last year, as well as the biggest increase overall of any U.S. county.

A Florida missing child alert has been issued Wednesday morning for two children, including an infant, out of Fort Myers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis touted more than $1 billion earmarked for Everglades and water resource investments in the upcoming state budget at a news conference in Fort Myers Beach Wednesday morning.

An overturned semi-truck closed westbound lanes near Interstate 75 in Lee County Friday morning, the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.

A Florida woman has been convicted for her part in a 2016 Florida nightclub shooting that left two teenagers dead and 14 other people injured.

A 29-year-old man is accused of filming two young girls as they tried on clothes in a fitting room at a southwest Florida Walmart store.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Friday that Florida has passed the mark of 1 million registered recreational vessels.

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.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Biden Administration of delaying help to Floridians impacted by recent tornadoes because of “politics.”

A Florida sheriff’s deputy is facing charges that he conspired to arrest an innocent person on drug charges in exchange for sexual favors and a trip to Paris.

A winter storm that was expected to blast the southern U.S. with dangerously high winds Sunday did not disappoint, as some South Floridians witnessed and filmed infamous weather events likely uncommon to them: tornadoes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said 1 million Abbott COVID-19 rapid tests that expired in a warehouse last month are now “going out” to testing sites after their usage date was extended to March 2022 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded $16.8 million to Bonita Springs Wednesday to fund repairs to the city’s stormwater infrastructure.

A Florida missing child alert has been issued for a 12-year-old girl out of Lee County.

Caloosahatchee River flows are looking good at a time when algae is absent from the entire system, and other health indicators seem promising as the region transitions into the brunt of the dry season.