By CURT ANDERSON | Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, cutting off the only bridge to a barrier island, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people as it dumped rain across the peninsula on Thursday.

One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States threatened catastrophic flooding around the state. Ian’s tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles, drenching much of Florida and the southeastern Atlantic coast.

Authorities confirmed at least one storm death in Florida. A 72-year-old man was found dead early Thursday in water in a canal behind his home in Deltona near Daytona Beach, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. It said he appeared to be using a hose to drain his pool into the wide canal and fell down an incline that was “extremely soft and slippery due to the heavy rain.”

Another Florida sheriff said he believed the death toll would be “in the hundreds.” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that his office was receiving thousands of 911 calls from people needing rescue in the county that includes Fort Myers, but roadways were still impassable and bridges are compromised.

“It crushed us,” Marceno said. “We still cannot access many of the people that are in need.”

Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach people in flooded homes, but with no electricity and virtually no cell service, it was impossible for many people to call for help from the hardest hit coastal areas where the surge came in.

“Portable towers are on the way for cell service. Chances are your loved ones do not have ability to contact you,” said the sheriff’s office in Collier County, which includes Naples. “We can tell you as daylight reveals the aftermath, it’s going to be a hard day.”

In Lee County, which includes Fort Myers, just south of where Hurricane Ian made landfall, the sheriff’s Office posted a phone number family and friends can call for welfare checks, and said “If the line is busy, keep trying.”

The National Hurricane Center said Ian became a tropical storm over land early Thursday and was expected to regain near-hurricane strength after emerging over Atlantic waters near the Kennedy Space Center later in the day, with South Carolina in its sights for a second U.S. landfall.

A stretch of the Gulf Coast remained inundated by ocean water, pushed ashore by the massive storm. “Severe and life-threatening storm surge inundation of 8 to 10 feet above ground level along with destructive waves is ongoing along the southwest Florida coastline from Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor,” the Miami-based hurricane center said.

A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people normally live. How many heeded mandatory evacuation orders was impossible to know in the storm’s immediate aftermath.

In Port Charlotte, the storm surge flooded a hospital’s emergency room even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.

Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing them to evacuate their sickest patients — some on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Staff members used towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.

The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients crowded into two because of the damage, and more were expected with people injured from the storm needing help.

“As long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters,” Bodine said.

Law enforcement officials in nearby Fort Myers received calls from people trapped in flooded homes or from worried relatives. Pleas were also posted on social media sites, some with video showing debris-covered water sloshing toward the eaves of their homes.

Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, contacted rescuers about her mother in North Fort Myers, whose home was swamped by 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water.

“We don’t know when the water’s going to go down. We don’t know how they’re going to leave, their cars are totaled,” Hailer said. “Her only way out is on a boat.”

Hurricane Ian turned streets into rivers and blew down trees as it slammed into southwest Florida on Wednesday with 150 mph (241 kph) winds, pushing a wall of storm surge. Ian’s strength at landfall was Category 4, tying it for the fifth-strongest hurricane, when measured by wind speed, ever to strike the U.S.

Ian’s center came ashore more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing the densely populated Tampa Bay area from its first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

Ian dropped to a tropical storm early Thursday over land, but was expected to intensify again once its center moves over the Atlantic Ocean and menace the South Carolina coast Friday at near-hurricane strength before moving inland.

At 5 a.m. Thursday, the storm was about 40 miles (70 km) southeast of Orlando and 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Cape Canaveral, carrying maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) and moving toward the cape at 8 mph (13 kmh), the center said.

Hurricane warnings were lowered to tropical storm warnings across the Florida peninsula, with widespread, catastrophic flooding remaining likely, the hurricane center said. Storm surges as high as 6 feet (2 meters) were still forecast for both coasts.

“It doesn’t matter what the intensity of the storm is. We’re still expecting quite a bit of rainfall,” Robbie Berg, senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain forecast for parts of Northeast Florida, coastal Georgia and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) could fall in southern Virginia as the storm moves inland over the Carolinas, and the center said landslides were possible in the southern Appalachian mountains.

No deaths were reported in the United States from Ian by late Wednesday. But a boat carrying Cuban migrants sank Wednesday in stormy weather east of Key West.

The U.S. Coast Guard initiated a search and rescue mission for 23 people and managed to find three survivors about two miles (three kilometers) south of the Florida Keys, officials said. Four other Cubans swam to Stock Island, just east of Key West, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Air crews continued to search for possibly 20 remaining migrants.

The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country’s electrical grid.

The hurricane’s eye made landfall near Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers. As it approached, water drained from Tampa Bay.

More than 2.5 million Florida homes and businesses were left without electricity, according to the PowerOutage.us site. Most of the homes and businesses in 12 counties were without power.

Sheriff Bull Prummell of Charlotte County, just north of Fort Myers, announced a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. “for life-saving purposes,” saying violators may face second-degree misdemeanor charges.

“I am enacting this curfew as a means of protecting the people and property of Charlotte County,” Prummell said.

Life-threatening storm surges and hurricane conditions were possible on Thursday and Friday along the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where Ian was expected to move inland, dumping more rain well in from the coast, the hurricane center said.

The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia all preemptively declared states of emergency.

Associated Press contributors include Christina Mesquita in Havana, Cuba; Cody Jackson and Adriana Gomez Licon in Tampa, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Miami; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; Seth Borenstein and Aamer Madhani in Washington; Bobby Caina Calvan in New York; Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, and Alina Hartounian in Phoenix, Arizona.

PCPS officials made surprise visits to more schools today as we announced our District 4 finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Congratulations to:

– Laila Gulley, Teacher of the Year finalist, fourth-grade teacher, Garden Grove Elementary

– Julie Whiteley, School-Related Employee of the Year finalist, principal’s secretary, Garner Elementary

Brief profiles of these two finalists can be found below.

PCPS is recognizing finalists from all seven districts, and the overall winners will be announced at the Inspire Awards on Dec. 7 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. The Polk Education Foundation and PCPS’ Department of Public Relations & Strategic Partnerships collaborate to present this annual event.

During the event, finalists will be recognized with video tributes and receive sponsored gifts. The Teacher of the Year and School-Related Employee of the Year will receive a cash prize generously donated by MIDFLORIDA Credit Union.

Platinum sponsors for the event include Lakeland Automall and MIDFLORIDA Credit Union. Gold sponsors include: Aramark, Boswell & Dunlap, BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, Mosaic, Tampa Electric Company, Publix Super Markets Charities, Orlando Health, and Legoland Florida Resort.

Finalist profiles:

Laila Gulley, Garden Grove Elementary, TOY

Gulley is praised for the way she communicates and connects with both students and parents. She also is an essential member of the Garden Grove team who works with other teachers to improve outcomes for all students.

Outside of her classroom duties as a fourth-grade teacher, Gulley serves with the Girl Scouts and assists with recruiting volunteers for school initiatives. She has been instrumental in many school beautification projects, and is “committed to making the world a better place.”

Julie Whiteley, Garner Elementary, SRE

Whiteley is the principal’s secretary at Garner Elementary, and she’s often the first person to arrive at work. She warmly greets students and employees as they come to school and is known for having positive relationships with all staff.

Whiteley takes time to read to students and comforts them when they are sick. She also cheers their academic progress and good behavior. Garner administrators say the school runs more efficiently because of the systems Whiteley has developed. In addition, she volunteers her time with the school’s advisory committee and PTO.

TheThe team behind Lost Boy Co., Tropezon, and Fox’s Lounge are extending their footprint on Miami’s culinary scene with the opening of their two latest outposts: Mayfair Grill and Sipsip Rooftop, both housed inside the newly opened Mayfair House Hotel & Garden (formerly the Mayfair Hotel & Spa).

“Mayfair House Hotel & Garden is a special part of the neighborhood’s history, and we are thrilled to be able to help write the next chapter of its story,” said Chris Hudnall, who’s the co-founder of Lost Boy & Co. hospitality group alongside Randy Alonso.

The hotel’s namesake Mayfair Grill restaurant and atrium bar can be found on the first floor, serving up wood-fired cuisine with flavors inspired by the American Southwest by chef Sean Bernal. The menu is expansive with dishes like fire-roasted squash, aguachile, wood-oven cheese, braised lamb Shank, and Navajo breads. The restaurant’s adjacent Fountain Bar is located in one of the original elevator shafts of the historic hotel, with a focus on wines and spirits from Guadalajara and Oaxaca, such as mezcal, tequila, sotol, and raicilla.

The poolside Sipsip rooftop bar and restaurant.

The second new dining outlet is Sipsip, named for the Bahamian word for “gossip” or “sharing news.” The Calypso pool rum bar pays homage to the Caribbean, featuring beach favorites such as daiquiris, punches, and pina coladas. Sipsip’s food menu is a re-imagination of the fried fish joints popular throughout South Florida, serving items such as conch ceviche, fried oyster sliders, smoked fish dip, and lobster rolls. The poolside ambiance is self-described as, “a feeling straight out of an iconic Slim Aarons photograph.”

Mayfair Grill and Sipsip are now open daily inside the Mayfair House Hotel & Garden at 3000 Florida Avenue in Coconut Grove. For more information call 305-441-0000.

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) and the City of Garden Grove, California, in May began operating one of four treatment plants being constructed in Garden Grove to remove per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from local well water.

PFAS are a group of thousands of manmade, heat-resistant chemicals that are prevalent in the environment and are commonly used in consumer products to repel water, grease and oil. Due to their prolonged use, PFAS are being detected in water sources throughout the United States, including the Orange County Groundwater Basin, which supplies 77 percent of the water supply to 2.5 million people in north and central Orange County. Despite playing no role in releasing PFAS into the environment, water providers must find ways to remove it from their local water supplies.

The Garden Grove facility, located at West Haven Reservoir, is among 36 PFAS treatment facilities being designed and constructed in Orange County over the next two years; Garden Grove’s West Haven Well 21 is one of the first in the county to be completed and go online. OCWD is funding 100 percent of design and construction costs and 50 percent of operation and maintenance costs for its water suppliers like Garden Grove.

“OCWD and our dedicated staff work tirelessly to address PFAS in the Orange County Groundwater Basin,” said OCWD President Steve Sheldon. “Working together with our retail providers to ensure that Orange County’s water supply remains among the highest quality in the nation is our top priority. I commend our staff on quickly and successfully completing this facility.”

Garden Grove, one of 19 water providers that pump water from the groundwater basin, had five of its groundwater wells impacted by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), prompting it to temporarily shut down those wells and transition to purchasing imported water from the Colorado River and Northern California. These wells are among dozens of wells throughout Orange County that were removed from service in 2020 after the state of California lowered the Response Level advisories of PFOA and PFOS; two legacy PFAS compounds no longer produced in the United States.

Using an Ion Exchange (IX) treatment system made of highly porous resin that acts like powerful magnets that adsorb and hold onto contaminants, the facility can treat up to five million gallons of water per day. During treatment, contaminants such as PFAS are removed from the water before it goes into the distribution system.

“The City’s top priority is ensuring that the water we serve is safe, reliable, and meets all state and federal drinking health standards,” said Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones. “We are very proud to have collaborated with OCWD to design and construct this facility that is so important to our residents.”

OCWD and 10 Orange County public water agencies filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of PFAS, seeking to protect ratepayers and ensure that the associated costs, including but not limited to treatment and replacement water, are borne by the companies that developed and manufactured PFAS.

To learn more about your water quality and view a video about Garden Grove’s approach to PFAS, visit www.ggcity.org/pw/water-quality. To learn more about OCWD’s comprehensive and robust PFAS response, please visit www.ocwd.com/what-we-do/water-quality/pfas.

For more information about OCWD, please visit www.ocwd.com, like @OCWaterDistrict on Facebook, follow @OCWDWaterNews on Twitter, follow @OCWD on Instagram, and follow Orange County Water District on LinkedIn.

Concorde Career College's Garden Grove campus, a two-story, 45,500-square-foot property, sold for $14 million along with the rights to 4.2 acres of land in the Orange County city of Garden Grove.

The health care vocational school at 12951 S. Euclid St. was bought by real estate investment and development firm Brooklyn Cos.

Newmark Vice Chairman Sean Fulp and Managing Directors Ryan Plummer and Mark Schuessler represented the seller Pacific Development Partners, with Executive Managing Director Paul Jones and Director Brandon White. Newmark Senior Managing Director Norman Lee represented the buyer, Brooklyn Cos., and Newmark Managing Director Jason Roth helped secure financing on behalf of the buyer.

“The reliable, long-term income stream associated with the tenant’s use coupled with resilient market fundamentals set this offering apart,” Fulp said. “In touring the property, the growing demand for health care professionals is apparent.”

Concorde Career College provides vocational training in the allied health field, including courses in medical and dental assisting, with 17 campuses in eight states. The Garden Grove campus has nearby access to major freeways, amenities and premier office tenants in Southern California.

In May, Phoenix-based transportation and technical training company Universal Technical Institute announced its plan to acquire Concorde Career Colleges in a $50 million deal. The sale is expected to close during the first half of 2023.

“Despite interest rate volatility and lenders changing appetite for office, we were able to secure extremely competitive financing terms for the Brooklyn Cos. by highlighting two key points: the necessity for this type of education to be conducted in person, as well as the year-over-year double-digit growth in the medical assistance fields projected by the Department of Labor and Statistics,” Roth said.

Orange County ranked among the top 25 U.S. markets attracting the most investment volume in the country in Q2 2022, Newmark Research’s recent Capital Markets Report found. Across all property types, U.S. quarterly investment volume increased 17.5% year-over-year, representing the third-largest quarter volume total in history.

While Newmark found multifamily remains the most in-demand property type, office, retail and hospitality volume have normalized as investors gain confidence in the recovery of travel and leisure spending, as well as the return of more employees to the office.