When the results for Tuesday's special election in Florida came in, Democrat Gay Valimont had fallen short of winning a congressional seat that few thought she had a chance to claim.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A Florida man has been sentenced to 20 years and three months in prison for being high on drugs when he caused a crash that killed two siblings. Black was driving on a Cantonment road, just north of Pensacola, in January 2019, when he swerved into the oncoming lane and hit another car head-on, officials said. The other vehicle's driver, Antoinette McCoy, 22, and her brother, Sean Banks, 15, were seriously injured in the crash. The sister and brother were airlifted to a Pensacola hospital, where they died, officials said. An analysis of his blood sample, taken after the crash, revealed the presence of Xanax and cannabis in his system, prosecutors said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 topped 5,000 on Tuesday, as case numbers and deaths continued to climb. As of early Tuesday evening, 5,103 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19, up from 4,931 during a Monday count, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. Miami-Dade County had the largest number of people hospitalized Tuesday with 932. It was followed by Broward County, with 514; Hillsborough County, with 300; Duval County, with 286; Palm Beach County, with 283; Pinellas County, with 241; Orange County, with 234; Polk County, with 155; Pasco County, with 136; Escambia County, with 126; Sarasota County, with 125; Lee County, with 124; Osceola County, with 119; Lake County, with 114; Volusia County, with 110; and Collier County, with 109.

The disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency covers all categories of public assistance for hard-hit Escambia County, including direct federal aid. Damage estimates from Hurricane Sally range from $2 billion to $10 billion. DeSantis' office on Wednesday activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan program through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The Florida Division of Emergency Management is also conducting damage assessments that could ultimately lead to federal assistance for individual residences. If it’s bad enough, it grants individual assistance to help victims like Holly and Wayne recover.

The supercharged Atlantic hurricane season has produced so many named storms that scientists ran out of traditional names as Tropical Storm Wilfred developed in the eastern Atlantic. Two hours after Wilfred took shape, the National Hurricane Center moved to the Greek alphabet when Subtropical Storm Alpha formed just off the coast of Portugal. The same practice will govern storm names for the rest of hurricane season, which lasts until the end of November. The only other time the hurricane center dipped into the Greek alphabet was the deadly 2005 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Katrina's strike on New Orleans. With the dunes that provide some protection to the island gone, Thomas said people will be nervous for the rest of the storm season.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)PENSACOLA, Fla. – Rescuers on the Gulf Coast used boats and high-water vehicles Thursday to reach people cut off by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally, even as a second round of flooding took shape along rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains. Crews carried out at least 400 rescues in Escambia County, Florida, by such means as high-water vehicles, boats and water scooters, authorities said. Also on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said a new tropical depression formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters said the depression could become a tropical storm as it moves slowly over the western Gulf during the next few days. Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm in the Atlantic.

Hurricane Sally made landfall near the Florida-Alabama state line as a Category 2 storm in the early morning hours Wednesday, bringing storm surge and torrential rain. Waves break ashore near the Gulf State Park pier as the outer bands of Hurricane Sally come ashore on Sept. 15 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (2020 Getty Images)A driver navigates along a flooded road as the outer bands of Hurricane Sally come ashore on Sept. 15, 2020 in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. (2020 Getty Images)Water floods a road as the outer bands of Hurricane Sally come ashore on Sept. 15 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (2020 Getty Images)A man walks though a flooded parking lot as the outer bands of Hurricane Sally come ashore on Sept. 15 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than two dozen JEA crew members are heading to Escambia County on Wednesday morning to help as Hurricane Sally pummels the area. It’s the third time JEA crew members have been called to help those in other counties this hurricane season, most recently they went to help Gulf Coast communities impacted by Hurricane Laura. In all, JEA is sending 30 crew members, vehicles and 12 six-inch water pumps to assist in the mission. While JEA has long worked to help Northeast Florida and other communities after storms, taking on a mission during COVID-19 is still a relatively new experience. JEA says safety procedures are still in place.

BREWTON, Ala. – No damage was reported after a weak earthquake occurred along the Alabama-Florida line Thursday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 3.8 quake happened just after 10 a.m. north of Mount Carmel, Florida. The location is a mostly forested area southwest of Brewton, Alabama. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said it hadn’t gotten any calls about damage, but some area residents reported feeling it in response to a question posed by the area National Weather Service office on its Facebook page. The quake occurred more than 6 miles beneath the surface, according to the Geological Survey.