Daytona Beach

Post-Hurricane Irma: Daytona's homeless front & center

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Within 36 hours of Hurricane Irma's blast through Daytona Beach, with many of the tourist-destination's traffic lights still out, motorists started venturing out and the homeless panhandlers were already in place at nearly every major intersection to greet them. 

Plight of loved ones, including children unaccounted for in Puerto Rico, hits home for my wife & her close-knit family members here in Central Florida

By HENRY FREDERICK
Headline Surfer
Column: People, Places & Things

SANFORD, Fla. -- My wife, Sera King-Frederick, is a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, who was raised in Aguada, both communiities on the western side of the island.

She and other family members here in Sanford, Lake Mary and Orlando, have had very little contact with literally dozens of loved ones on the island, many of them forced to feek shelter, their homes reduced to rubble.

Daytona International Speedway: Infield improvements under way for Rolex 24 race & NASCAR weekends

Key Words

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona International Speedway has undertaken a new project to further improve the infield for the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA and NASCAR Weekends.

"Daytona International Speedway is putting the construction vehicles to work as the 'World Center of Racing' has undertaken another improvement project in the infield that will provide benefits to the fan experience for Rolex 24 At Daytona and NASCAR weekends," DIS spokesman Andrew Booth said in a press release.

Podcast: Daytona's top cop speaks candidly on his handling of Hurricane Irma with 1 death in its wake

DAYONA BEACH, Fla. -- Preservation of life in a cataclysmic storm like Hurricane Irma is foremost in policing a community, especially one as challenging as Daytona Beach.

Consider the added challenges like the rolling ocean surf on the World's Most Famous Beach®. There's the equally lengthy stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway. And even Daytona International Speedway's Lake Lloyd with potential to overrun its banks.

Such added elements for this tourism-driven coastal city with Irma barreling up the Sunshine State presented first-year Police Chief Craig Capri with the daunting task to serve and protect with the harsh realities of life and death hanging in the balance.

Sunday: Headline Surfer podcast premiere with Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri on Hurricane Irma & aftermath

DAYTONA BEACH -- Hurricane Irma may have been the ultimate litmus test for first-year Police Chief Craig Capri, whose street smarts as a former longtime cop on the beat and brains in mapping out a strategic game plan in tackling the massive storm whose impact is still being felt now five days later. 

Few more relieved than Daytona widow Kathy Stewart who rode out hurricane Irma alone in closet of her 17th story condo

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Her Facebook page profile says "married," but make no mistake about it: Widow Kathy Stewart rode out Hurricane Irma alone and in the dark of a closet in her towering beachside condo.