Author: Staff

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning after leaving a path of destruction across Florida with life-threatening storm surges, trapping people in flooded homes and knocking out power to 2 million people.

Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa around 3 p.m. Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds; the storm is believed to be one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded making landfall in Florida. The massive storm also brought torrential rainfall, and a catastrophic storm surge that left entire coastal communities under feet of water. Ian was the first Category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Rita in 2005.

Officials warned, however, that the powerful storm was not over. Early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Ian had maximum sustained winds of near 65 mph with higher gusts as it moved slowly through central Florida on its way to the western Atlantic.  By 5 a.m., Ian was around 55 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral and moving northeast at 9 mph, the hurricane center said. Florida’s Atlantic coast, from northeast of Orlando into Georgia, could see a 6-foot storm surge. The storm is moving toward the northeast near 8 m.p.h., with a turn toward the north-northeast – and a move off the coast of Florida – expected later today. It’s expected to pick up speed during the day on Friday and into the evening as it approaches the coast of South Carolina.

Life-threatening storm surges and hurricane conditions were possible on Thursday and Friday along the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where Ian was expected to move inland. The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia all preemptively declared states of emergency.

Editorial credit: John Connor Bray / Shutterstock.com

The Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Agency announced that between May 23 and Sept. 8, federal agents seized about 10.2 million fentanyl-laced pills and 82 pounds of fentanyl power in more than 100 investigations over the past five months, across all 50 states. The DOJ said those responsible for trafficking it into the U.S. are the Mexican cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 35 cases were linked directly to one or both of the primary Mexican cartels responsible for the majority of fentanyl in the United States.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a news release:  “Across the country, fentanyl is devastating families and communities, and we know that violent, criminal drug cartels bear responsibility for this crisis  The Justice Department, including the extraordinary professionals of the DEA, is working to disrupt and dismantle the operations of these cartels, remove deadly fentanyl from our communities, and save American lives.”

The operation resulted in 390 cases, including 51 cases linked to overdose poisonings. Garland said: “The amount of fentanyl taken off the streets during this surge is equivalent to more than 36 million lethal doses removed from the illegal drug supply.” Garland also said 338 weapons, including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and hand grenades, were also seized.

The DOJ said fentanyl is a deadly threat to Americans because it is 50 times more potent than heroin, adding that 107,622 deaths were due to drug poisoning or overdose with 66% of those deaths attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.  Drug traffickers have starting selling fentanyl in a variety of bright colors, shapes and sizes. “Rainbow” fentanyl was first reported to DEA in February 2022 and it has now been seized in 21 states.

Editorial credit: Joaquin Corbalan P / Shutterstock.com