Historic vessel left Philadelphia last week, where it had been docked since 1996.

Tens of thousands of students have left Florida’s public schools in recent years amid an explosive growth in school choice.

Authorities say three Alabama men are dead from likely drowning after becoming distressed while swimming at a Florida Panhandle beach.

Travelers are contenting with big crowds and flight delays on what is expected to be the busiest day of the Memorial Day weekend.

More than 15 million people from Texas to Florida are under threat of severe storms and the potential for more tornadoes.

South Florida has been bracing for what’s on its way.

Tornadoes left a path of destruction on Tuesday morning in the Florida Panhandle.

A man who killed two women he met a day apart at north Florida bars in 1996 has been executed.

A man convicted of killing two women he met at beach bars in the Florida Panhandle in 1996 is set to be executed.

Residents of the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton are digging out of the rubble after a deadly tornado struck the town, shredding mobile homes and ripping apart brick buildings along main street.

A private crew is back on Earth after a nine-day trip to the International Space Station.

A 9-mile stretch of Florida sugar-white sand in an unspoiled natural setting alongside the Gulf of Mexico is the nation’s best beach for 2023.

Florida has executed a man convicted of breaking into a woman's home and stabbing her to death in 1986.

A man convicted of breaking into a woman’s Florida Panhandle apartment and fatally stabbing her 37 times in 1986 is set to be executed next month.

Police in the Florida Panhandle said a 42-year-old man drove more than two hours to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex.

Tropical Storm Nicole has weakened to a tropical depression as it crosses the Florida Panhandle on its way north into Georgia.

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

An appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that a parentless 16-year-old girl in the Florida Panhandle was not “sufficiently mature” to end her pregnancy while seeking a waiver from a state law that requires minors to get parental consent for an abortion.

Authorities in Florida say the chief of a volunteer fire department is accused of fatally shooting a business owner because the victim owed him money.

Officials say veterans forced to evacuate a nursing home by a Florida Panhandle wildfire have been allowed to return home.

Residents in 600 homes in the Florida Panhandle have been evacuated as a wildfire destroyed two houses and damaged 12 others, in an area that has spent the past three years recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office posted video a deputy captured on patrol showing falling snowflakes bathed in the light of a lamppost in a store’s parking lot. Only 12 hours earlier, the temperature had been 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the post said.

The winds are winding down in Tropical Depression Nicholas, but the rain continues to fall. While the center of Nicholas’s circulation is crawling across southwestern Louisiana, the heavy rain on the east side of the storm has expanded all the way to the Florida Panhandle.

Tropical depression Mindy has dumped rain along the Georgia and South Carolina seacoasts during its trek over land and is now moving well offshore into the Atlantic Ocean.

A swath of the Florida Panhandle was under a tropical storm warning after Tropical Storm Mindy made landfall Wednesday night.

The Tropical Disturbance we’ve been tracking in the Gulf is getting a little better organized. The upper-level winds are slightly more supportive of an organized circulation forming before the system reaches the Florida Panhandle or the northern Florida peninsula. But it’s running out of time.

Tropical Storm Fred intensified in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall Monday afternoon in the eastern Florida Panhandle and hours later, Tropical Depression Eight strengthened into Tropical Storm Henri.

The National Hurricane Center said Fred has regained tropical storm status in the Gulf of Mexico as parts of the Caribbean began seeing impacts from tropical depression Grace.

SpaceX has delivered four astronauts back to Earth, making the first U.S. crew splashdown in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot.

Hurricane Zeta passed through Wednesday with a tidal surge that caused the boat to become unmoored. In Atlanta and New Orleans, drivers dodged trees in roads and navigated intersections without traffic signals. John Bel Edwards said the state sustained “catastrophic” damage on Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish, where Zeta punched three breaches in the levee. Edwards ordered the Louisiana National Guard to fly in soldiers to assist with search and rescue efforts and urged continued caution. Zeta was the 27th named storm of a historically busy year with more than a month left in the Atlantic hurricane season.

Elaine and Jack Hulgan pose for a portrait after riding out the hurricane in their attic, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Cantonment, Fla. Rivers swollen by Hurricane Sally's rains threatened more misery for parts of the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama on Thursday, as the storm's remnants continued to dump heavy rains inland that spread the threat of flooding to Georgia and the Carolinas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)CANTONMENT, Fla. – The firetrucks and rescue vehicles kept passing her house even after Elaine Hulgan, 76, wrote “IN ATTIC HELP” on the front door. The Florida couple was trapped in their home after Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore Wednesday morning near Gulf Shores, Alabama, with 105 mph (165 kph) winds. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Elaine Hulgan said. “When they kept going by and not seeing us, I told Jack, ‘Jack, are the four of us going to die in this house?’” Elaine said. Elaine Hulgan said they’re not sure where they might live while their home is being repaired, but they’re also thankful to be alive.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)PENSACOLA, Fla. – Rescuers on the Gulf Coast used boats and high-water vehicles Thursday to reach people cut off by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally, even as a second round of flooding took shape along rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains. Crews carried out at least 400 rescues in Escambia County, Florida, by such means as high-water vehicles, boats and water scooters, authorities said. Also on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said a new tropical depression formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said the depression could become a tropical storm as it moves slowly over the western Gulf during the next few days. Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm in the Atlantic.

___MIAMI — A new tropical depression has formed in the Gulf just hours after Hurricane Sally left. There was no threat to land as of Thursday night, but the center says the depression could become a tropical storm on Friday. ___PENSACOLA, Fla. — Although once-powerful Hurricane Sally is no longer a serious storm, flooding is still a problem along rivers and creeks swollen by its heavy rains. ___PENSACOLA, Fla. — Rescuers on the Gulf Coast are using high-water vehicles to reach people cut off by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally. ___MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Though Hurricane Sally has passed, officials in Alabama and Florida are warning that the disaster isn't over yet.

A curfew was called in the coastal Alabama city of Gulf Shores due to life-threatening conditions. The county includes Pensacola, one of the largest cities on the Gulf Coast. Landfall was expected on the northern Gulf Coast early Wednesday. Although the hurricane had the Alabama and Florida coasts in its sights Wednesday, its effects were felt all along the northern Gulf Coast. With Hurricane Sally expected to dump rain for days, the problem could be worse than normal, she said.

Hurricane Sally dawdled and looped long enough yesterday to change the timing and place of its landfall on the north-central Gulf coast. We saw this effect in Hurricane Laura when a slight wobble to the east prevented Gulf water from surging up the river and flooding Lake Charles. Having said that, all along the Gulf coast from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, the Gulf water is already flooding low-lying coastal areas, just due to the slow-moving hurricane being offshore. That rain will flow to the coast, enhancing the flooding caused by the storm surge pushing in from the Gulf. A historic flood is now expected along the northern Gulf coast from Mississippi to the western Florida Panhandle.

Waters from the Guld of Mexico poor onto a local road, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Waveland, Miss. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbrt)Here are the latest developments on tropical weather (all times local):___The Florida Panhandle is being pummeled by heavy rains from Hurricane Sally’s outer bands. The powerful, plodding storm was crawling toward the northern Gulf Coast at 3 mph (4.8 kph) early Tuesday. Florida’s governor declared an emergency in two western Panhandle counties. President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Astronauts returning in the early 1970s from Skylab, NASAs first space station, did not feel well following splashdown, Hurley noted. Feeling sick is the way it is with a water landing, he said during the crews final news conference from the International Space Station. The capsule has been docked at the space station since May 31, allowing Hurley and Behnken to chip in with spacewalks and experiments. The plan is for the Dragon to undock from the space station on Saturday, a day before splashdown. We wont leave the space station without some good landing opportunities in front of us, good splashdown weather, Behnken told reporters.

Tropical Storm Cristobal is on the move, on a due north track. The center of the tropical storm should arrive at the Louisiana coast midday tomorrow, but the bad weather will arrive on much of the Gulf Coast long before that. In addition, the Gulf water will rise along the coast from Louisiana eastward starting today. A map of peak forecast storm surge along the Gulf Coast. Cristobal is not a classic tropical storm in shape.

Tropical Storm Nestor formed Friday afternoon in the Gulf of Mexico. Dangerous storm surge is forecast for the northeastern Gulf Coast. Along the Florida coast from east of Apalachicola and around the Big Bend to near the Tampa area, dangerous storm surge is a significant threat. Tropical storm force winds are likely by later today along portions of the central and eastern Gulf Coast, where tropical storm warnings are in effect. Isolated flash flooding is possible along the central and eastern Gulf Coast and southeastern United States coast from today through Saturday night.

(CNN) - In regions of the United States and Mexico that are prone to hurricanes, aggressive spiders are evolving to survive and ride out the storm. Researchers looked at Anelosimus studiosus spiders that live in storm-prone areas along the coast to see how they changed. They don't offer much lead time, so the researchers had to scramble to study the spider colonies before and after projected storms. The team monitored Subtropical Storm Alberto and hurricanes Florence and Michael during the 2018 hurricane season. They tried to anticipate the systems' trajectories and study areas that included 240 female spider colonies, comparing them with areas where spider colonies were unaffected by such storms.

GULF BREEZE, Fla. - Wildlife officials are warning residents in a Florida Panhandle community to keep an eye on their pets after a black bear killed a pet dog. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say the female bear with cubs encountered the dog and killed it. Wildlife officials are canvasing the area to search for the bear. And biologists are setting a trap to try to catch the bear. The newspaper reports bear sightings have become increasingly common in the area as land is sold and houses are build.

Search and rescue team members search for victims of Hurricane Michael on Oct. 13, 2018, in Mexico Beach, Florida. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Insurance companies have yet to pay about 15 percent of claims made from Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet last week that insurers have yet pay out more than 21,000 claims from last Octobers Category 5 storm. Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner David Altmaier says the figure is discouraging. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the law requires insurance companies to pay claims within 90 days of being filed, provided the claims are not contested.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Researchers studying underground anomalies at a former Florida Panhandle reform school known for horrific abuse and dozens of unmarked graves say recently discovered earth disturbances don't contain human remains. The University of South Florida and the Department of State issued a news release Tuesday. They said the 27 anomalies discovered earlier this year by a contractor using ground-penetrating radar at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna are mostly roots from pine trees removed from the area years ago. A USF team led by forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle was brought in to study the anomalies after the contractor raised concerns they could be graves. Kimmerle led a team from 2012 to 2016 that identified 55 graves at the school, which closed in 2011 after more than a century in operation.

MARIANNA, Fla. - A former sheriffs deputy in the Florida Panhandle was arrested Wednesday on charges that he routinely pulled over drivers for minor traffic infractions, planted drugs and then arrested them on made-up drug charges. Former Jackson County deputy Zachary Wester was arrested in Crawfordville, Florida after a nearly year-long investigation, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Jackson County is located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Tallahassee along the Georgia and Alabama borders. He also faces misdemeanor charges of perjury, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. I would like to thank the citizens of Jackson County for their patience during the investigation and my staff for continuing to serve our citizens during this difficult time, Jackson County Sheriff Lou Roberts said in a statement.

2005: Hurricane Katrina makes landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in southeast Louisiana. Katrina would go on to devastate much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1,836 and causing more than $80 billion in damage. The most significant number of deaths occurred in New Orleans, which flooded after the city's levee system catastrophically failed, in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland. Hide Caption