DEANDRA SMITH

Students living at the complex near the UCF campus on Friday carried out water-logged clothes in garbage bags, used a pontoon and an air mattress to rescue friends and moved furniture out of flooded apartments. “We still had power, which is terrifying, and the lights were still on, and there's knee deep water in our apartment,” said Holbert, a nursing student.

The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Ian has risen to 17 as Florida authorities confirmed several drownings and other fatalities Friday afternoon.

University of Central Florida students living at an apartment complex near the Orlando campus, made homeless by the flooding, retrieved possessions Friday from their water logged units. COLUMBIA, S.C. — A second pier in northern South Carolina has been destroyed by Hurricane Ian’s surge.

Blood donations are always necessary, but September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. The Red Cross has issued a specific plea to the African American community to step up and donate.

The American Red Cross has now declared a national blood crisis and said the nation is facing the worst shortage of blood in more than a decade.