Florida communities near Tampa Bay were devastated when Hurricane Helene made landfall two weeks ago about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north.

A golfer captures cell phone video of a nearly 10-foot-long alligator on a golf course near Punta Gorda.

He called the department's emergency line, apparently to inquire about a past bomb threat case — and proceeded to make more threats, police say.

With many people in the Florida Gulf Coast area still without power, residents in Punta Gorda were working to rebuild the city after homes were badly damaged and boats were pushed by the storm surge of Hurricane Ian.

Law enforcement agencies in Miami-Dade County are stepping up to help the victims of Hurricane Ian in any way they can, and that includes a team from the Homestead Police Department, which left Friday morning.

Hurricane Ian roared ashore on Wednesday afternoon, crossing the shoreline just south of Punta Gorda in Lee County on southwest Florida’s coast as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds.

A Florida parrot rescue organization fell victim to a bird heist Tuesday, losing 28 parrots and cockatoos to a thief or thieves overnight.

A Florida teacher has been arrested after deputies say she let a missing teenager, who was also a student at her school, illegally stay at her home.

TMZ is reporting that the man punched by boxing legend Mike Tyson on a flight to Miami has a previous criminal record.

A 46-year-old woman from Punta Gorda claimed a $5 million top prize from the Gold Rush Limited game, Florida Lottery announced.

PUNTA GORDA – Hurricane Nana made landfall in Belize, pelting a relatively sparsely populated stretch of the country's coast with heavy rain and wind, before weakening while pushing across Guatemala and dissipating late Thursday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Nana hit land between the coastal towns of Dangriga and Placencia in the early minutes of Thursday at an area around 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Belize City with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), making it barely a hurricane. Nana weakened to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kph) by late in the afternoon, and dissipated during the night near Guatemala's border with Mexico. Guatemala reported heavy rains, especially along that border, but the country's national disaster coordinator reported no deaths and said no one had been moved to shelters. Long lines stretched through supermarkets and hardware store shelves were nearly bare as residents of Belize bought materials to board up windows and doors.