A Brandon non-profit organization is providing relief to communities affected by Hurricane Ian in Fort Meyers and Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico.
Boricuas de Corazon has staged many food and household items giveaways by using social media platforms like Facebook to find and collect items for those in need.
“We want to make sure that their houses are clean,” said Linda Perez, president and director of Boricuas de Corazon. “We want to make sure we provide solar power to a couple of houses, hygiene products and medical support. That’s like our main four items that we are concentrating our efforts on right now.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved over $327 million in federal disaster relief for more than 182,500 households affected by Hurricane Ian.
“I actually have a lot of family in the Fort Myers area, so I’m actually thrilled to hear that a company is bringing supplies down to help out,” said Jacob Morton, a Tampa resident.
Rental car shortage worsens as consequence of Hurricane Ian
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, rental car companies in Florida are experiencing a shortage of cars.
“I was on the apps and the apps said they were out of cars. That probably means they’re out of cars, none of them have any cars” said Craig Mathis, a traveler at the Tampa International Airport.
A quick check of Hertz and Enterprise show that there are no available cars as of October 13. A search of rental sites shows a big price increase for a two week rental period at Tampa International Airport compared to other major airports. Expedia listed a Toyota Corolla or similar vehicle for $1,557.59 at the Tampa airport, while at Denver International Airport, a Corolla would be $793. According to a Bloomberg analysis, the average rental car in the U.S. cost about $51 per day pre-pandemic. In summer of 2022, the same car costs about $96 per day.
“You might even need to consider flying into a different city to get rental cars,” said Arthur Collins, another traveler at Tampa International.
Throughout the pandemic, rental car inventories were already low. Households that were affected by Hurricane Ian increased the demand for rental cars.
Parkland shooter’s fate decided by jury
Following a deliberation on Wednesday, the jury concluded that Nikolas Cruz should receive life in prison without possibility of parole. The jury’s decision followed after a day of deliberation and hearing many testimonies. Cruz pleaded guilty to all 17 counts of first-degree murder. See our coverage from earlier this week.
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