Hurricane Helene strengthened again Thursday morning, and it is now a Category 3 hurricane having maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.
Both the storm’s magnitude and severity are increasing.
With a potentially fatal storm surge, it is predicted to make landfall in the Florida Big Bend tonight as a powerful hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
HERNANDO COUNTY, FL – One person was killed and another injured when an SUV collided with an electric bicycle in Hernando County on Saturday night, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
WTVT reports the rider of the e-bike was headed south on the Nature Coast Trail shortly after 8:30 p.m. and did not stop at a stop sign near the intersection with Highfield Road. The bike was then struck at the trail crossing by a westbound Chevrolet Trailblazer.
The bike rider, a 42-year-old Brooksville man, was pronounced dead after being taken to an area hospital. A woman who was on the bike was hospitalized with serious injuries.
MARION COUNTY, FL – A woman was killed when the vehicle she was riding in was involved in a collision in Marion County on Saturday afternoon.
WKMG reported details of the crash that were released by the Florida Highway Patrol. According to the FHP, the driver of a sedan was headed east on County Road 484 when the incident happened at about 12:40 p.m.
As that driver made a left turn onto Southwest 110th Avenue, the vehicle directly entered the path of an oncoming SUV and the vehicles collided, causing the SUV to overturn.
HERNANDO COUNTY, FL – A head-on collision between two vehicles in Hernando County on Saturday morning left both drivers dead, WTVT reported.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the incident on State Road 589 involved a wrong-way driver. According to the FHP, a man behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Jetta was heading south in the northbound lanes at about 12:40 a.m. and crashed into a northbound Honda Odyssey minivan near County Line Road. The impact caused both vehicles to rotate and flip, with both ending up in the median and outside shoulder.
The Volkswagen driver, a 45-year-old man, and the Honda driver, a 47-year-old woman, were pronounced dead at the scene, Both were from Homosassa.
LEVY COUNTY, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol said three people were injured, one seriously, in a crash along County Road 345 on Thursday afternoon.
According to the Main Street Daily News, the driver of a Chevrolet Trailblazer was going north at 4:12 p.m. and passed another northbound vehicle. As she re-entered the northbound lane she lost control of the vehicle, crossed over the center lane and entered the southbound lane.
The Chevrolet then collided head-on with a southbound Lexus ES300, causing the Chevrolet to overturn while the Lexus ended up on the shoulder of the roadway.
A wagon toppled over during a school field trip at a Wisconsin apple orchard on Wednesday, injuring over 20 individuals, three of whom had critical injuries, according to officials.
The incident happened at Bushel and a Peck Orchard in the town of Lafayette, which is in Chippewa Falls, about 200 miles west of Green Bay.
According to reports, the wagons were being pulled off a public road when the driver lost control, causing them to flip and leaving multiple children and adults with serious injuries.
WILDWOOD, FL – Police said a collision in Sumter County last week left a bicycle rider dead, the Villages-News reports.
The incident happened Sept. 10 in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 301 and County Road 471 in Wildwood. According to the Wildwood Police Department, a man was riding an e-bicycle at about 11 a.m. and was in the intersection when he he collided with a semi-truck.
The e-bike rider, a 32-year-old man from Wildwood, died at the scene. His identity was not released.
TARPON SPRINGS, FL – A trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol was injured when his patrol car was hit by another vehicle along a highway median in Tarpon Springs on Saturday, according to WTVT.
The trooper had stopped in a marked FHP Dodge Charger at about 1:45 p.m. while monitoring traffic on US-19 near Parkview Boulevard and Klosterman Road.
A man driving a Mercedes sedan north on US-19 lost control of his car, rotated to the median, and rear-ended the patrol car, which then rotated to the southbound lanes of US-19. The Mercedes came to a stop in the northbound lanes.
SUMTER COUNTY, FL – A driver who was involved in a crash with a school bus in Sumter County earlier this month has died of her injuries, WKMG reports.
The incident happened at about 8:35 a.m. on Sept. 6 on County Road 222 near County Road 462, west of U.S. 301. The Florida Highway Patrol said that the driver of a Ford Escort wagon was going east and failed to stop at a stop sign. The Ford entered the path of the school bus and the vehicles collided.
The Ford driver, a 68-year-old Bushnell woman, was seriously injured and transported to an area hospital. The FHP announced last week that the woman has passed away. The school bus driver, a 50-year-old Wildwood woman, was hospitalized with minor injuries.
PASCO COUNTY, FL – An accident in Pasco County early Thursday morning claimed the life of a motorcycle rider, the Tampa Free Press reports.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the rider of an E-ride Pro motorcycle was headed north on the west shoulder of US Alt 19 when the crash happened at about 12:25 a.m.
According to the FHP, the rider struck a ditch south of Manton Lane and the motorcycle overturned. The rider, a 26-year-old Holiday man, died at the scene.
