CORTEZ, Fla. (AP) — Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many of whom were journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

Some areas are already seeing shortages in supplies like toilet paper and water, along with long lines at gas stations.

Safety advocates encourage people to weigh down umbrellas if they're headed to the beach this weekend.

Officials say a sheriff deputy ran over a woman who was lying on the sand in a Florida beach as he was driving to check on a 911 hangup call.

Colleges around the U.S. are scaling back spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage beachfront partying that could raise infection rates back on campus. Colleges around the U.S. are scaling back spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage partying that could spread the virus and raise infection rates back on campus. But hotel occupancy is expected to reach 70% in Miami Beach this month, he said. In Miami Beach, tourists are receiving cellphone messages warning, “Vacation Responsibly or Be Arrested.”“Spring break in Miami Beach may be one of the great rites of passage, but only if you plan on following the rules. Go to Vegas,” Miami Beach City Manager Raul Aguila said during a recent virtual city meeting.

St. Pete Beach is the No. The travel service announced its annual Traveler’s Choice Best of the Best list Tuesday, rating eight beaches in the Sunshine States among the top 25 and ranking St. Pete Beach the fifth-best in the world. In addition to St. Pete Beach, Madeira Beach and Clearwater Beach -- also Pinellas County -- made the top 25 list. Traveler’s Choice top 25 beachesSt. Pete Beach - St. Petersburg, Florida Ka’anapali Beach - Lahaina, Hawaii Moonstone Beach - Cambria, California Wailea Beach - Wailea, Hawaii Cannon Beach - Cannon Beach, Oregon Napili Beach - Lahaina, Hawaii Ogunquit Beach - Ogunquit, Maine Wai’anapanapa State Park - Hana, Hawaii Madeira Beach - Madeira Beach, Florida Kailua Beach Park, Kailua, HawaiiJekyll Island, Georgia, was No. Other Florida beaches in the top 25 included Ormond Beach (12), Henderson Beach State Park in Destin (13), Pensacola Beach (15), Treasure Island Beach (16), Siesta Key Beach (17) and Clearwater Beach (18).

Image from WFTS-TV/TampaCLEARWATER, Fla. - A dozen concrete statues of U.S. service members have been placed in the Gulf of Mexico, 10 miles off the coast of Clearwater Beach, as the nation's first underwater dive memorial honoring our country's veterans. The life-size concrete statues represent men and women serving in the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy. Former Congressman David Jollys nonprofit, Brighter Future Florida, led the fundraising to complete the memorial. Pinellas County provided $50,000, and Brighter Future Florida raised $150,000. "In places where our veterans should feel the most safe and secure, many feel more vulnerable than when they're being shot at.

Pixabay(CNN) - A man who was struck by lightning at a Florida beach on Sunday has died, Clearwater Police said. Perks went into cardiac arrest after he was hit by a lightning strike at Clearwater Beach near Tampa last weekend, fire rescue officials told CNN affiliate WFTS. Seven other people were injured, and witnesses reported that the victims fell or were thrown when the lightning struck, Clearwater Police Department Lt. Michael Ogliaruso told CNN. Clearwater Fire and Rescue told WFTS that beachgoers should seek shelter when lightning and thunderstorms are in the area. Lightning strikes killed 20 people in the United States in 2018, including seven from Florida, according to the National Weather Service.

CLEARWATER, Fla - At least eight people are injured after lightning struck Clearwater Beach on Sunday afternoon, according to fire rescue officials. One man in his 40s was directly hit by the strike, the Clearwater Fire Department says. It happened around 12:42 p.m. in the beach area behind Frenchy's Rockaway Grill. As a reminder, Clearwater Fire and Rescue uses the phrase: when you hear the roar, go indoor," the fire department says. Officials say lifeguards at the beach left their towers around 12:30 p.m. due to bad weather, minutes before the 911 call came in for the strike.

A 24-year-old woman has been arrested in Clearwater Beach, Florida, for leaving a $5,000 tip on a restaurant bill in what authorities say was an act of "revenge." Once the boyfriend, Michael Crane, noticed the charge, he confronted Wolfe, authorities said, who denied leaving the tip. Crane reported the charge as fraudulent, but by that point the restaurant had already paid out the tip to the waitress. The waitress, who had reportedly recently put down her dog, merely thought the tip was meant to console her, according to WFTS. It will be up to the restaurant and the waitress whether she gets to keep the tip.