- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
Coastal Florida town battens down hatches as Hurricane Idalia looms
John Paul Nohelj has lived in Steinhatchee for two decades. For him, the northwest Florida town set among marshes and forests is paradise on Earth, and he won't leave -- despite being in the crosshairs of a churning hurricane.
Little does he care about the evacuation order issued by authorities for his county and several others along Florida's Gulf coast, where Hurricane Idalia is forecast to roar ashore early Wednesday.
Sitting on the porch of his creaky wooden home, Nohelj appears unfazed by what could be a looming disaster.
"I've lived on the coast of Florida my whole life and this is where I love to be," the 71-year-old, who breathes with the help of an oxygen tank, tells AFP Tuesday.
"If you live near the water, you're gonna get a wet butt once in a while," he says, downplaying the hurricane threat that has many of his neighbors scrambling to evacuate to safer regions.
Steinhatchee is a quiet pocket of Florida. It has some 1,000 residents, lush trees, beautiful wooden homes and abundant water, notably the river that runs through town and into the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
Idalia is forecast to strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane by early Wednesday, gaining a force that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns could lead to catastrophic destruction.
Dozens of people in town were finalizing preparations before the storm made landfall. Most are evacuating the town and heading inland -- but not before trying to salvage some of their belongings and fortify their homes before leaving.
Stephanie Moon, 37, has loaded as much furniture as she can into a moving truck with the help of friends. She lives alone across the river with her dog Molly, and decided pull up stakes and head to Georgia, the state just north of Florida where she aims to ride out the storm with relatives.
"I just hope our beautiful little town is still here after the hurricane, and that we come back to hopefully not a whole lot of devastation," she says.
In the town center, several residents hustle in and out of the only grocery store still open, Maddie's Market, next to a gas station. Like many houses, the storefront's windows are boarded up with plywood to protect them from gale-force winds.
But there is another fear here: flooding.
Storm surges could reach as high as 15 feet (4.5 meters) in this rural region of Florida known as the Big Bend.
Jody Griffis, co-owner of a local high and dry boat storage facility, joined several employees in a race against the clock.
They used forklifts to raise 25 boats to dry slots inside a huge building -- out of danger from potentially rising waters.
"I hope that this is still there when I get back on Thursday, and that nobody gets hurt," said the 56-year-old Griffis, who planned on retreating to safer ground but vowed to return for the inevitable post-hurricane clean-up.
Such a commitment to the community is a hallmark of Steinhatchee, several residents said -- a value that will soon be put to the test with the hurricane's imminent passage.
P.Sousa--PC