Year: 2017

ABC News(TAMPA, Fla.) -- The death toll from Hurricane Irma has climbed to 17 in the United States following its path of destruction across the Caribbean and through the Southeast U.S. over the weekend, while power has now been restored to over 2 million customers in Florida.By midday Tuesday, Florida Power & Light Co. had restored power to 2.3 million customers, which was 40 percent of those affected across the […]

Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The devastation left in coastal U.S. cities after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma has many wondering if multiple, high-category hurricanes making landfall will be a "new normal" moving forward, leaving questions about how coastal cities can prepare for future storms.Though scientists are reluctant to say hurricanes will be more frequent moving forward, two experts who spoke to ABC News were confident that the ones that do come will […]

ABCNews.com(OLNEY, Md.) -- A pregnant Maryland woman and lauded high school teacher vanished last week after she contacted relatives in a text message, authorities said.The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release that the family of Laura Wallen of Olney, Maryland, who is four months pregnant and was honored last year as "teacher of the year" by Wilde Lake High School in nearby Columbia, received the text on […]

ABC News (HARDEE COUNTY, Fla.) -- A sheriff's deputy and a corrections officer were among those killed as Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida.Julie Bridges, a 13-year member of the Hardee County Sheriff's Office, died in a two-car collision while driving home Sunday morning after a night shift, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.Florida Department of Corrections Sgt. Joseph Ossman, who was driving the other car in the crash, also died, […]

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Powerful hurricanes like Harvey and Irma are dangerous anywhere they hit.But hurricanes and other natural disasters pose an especially big threat to growing coastal cities such as Houston, Miami and Tampa.Houston’s population has grown steadily over the past roughly four decades, as has that of Miami and Tampa, Florida, according to Census Bureau data.Since 1980, Houston's population soared by nearly a third, 32 percent, to 2.1 million […]

Ingram Publishing(NEW YORK) -- Former gang member Richard Gamarra is making the most out of a second chance at life.Gamarra, 29, graduated from Columbia University this past May after spending several years in prison on assault and weapons charges.He received his master's degree in public health with a specialization in epidemiology.“Education is what’s going to help you get ahead in this country. Education is what’s going to save you from […]

iStock/Thinkstock(MIAMI) -- Louis Freeman, a Miami-based radiologist, said he returned home after working for 48 hours straight during Hurricane Irma to find his property in turmoil."It's hard," Freeman said. "You come home after 48 hours straight of working and then you find everything you've worked hard for literally destroyed."Trees on his property were completely uprooted, concrete wall structures were tumbled and parts of his home's roof were ripped off by […]