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Check back throughout the day Thursday, Sept. 29 for updates.

TCPalm has staff in Stuart, Palm City, Hobe Sound, Jensen Beach, Indiantown, Jupiter Island and Ocean Breeze to provide updates on Tropical Storm Ian’s impact Thursday to Martin County.

This story will be updated live as news breaks. You can also keep up with TCPalm reporters on social media using #TCWeather. If you missed Wednesday’s weather blog for Martin County, click here.

4:01 p.m. Bridges back to normalcy

The Roosevelt Drawbridge and Hobe Sound Bascule Bridge reopened Thursday.

On Friday, all Martin County offices will reopen and Martin County Public Transit (MARTY) buses will be back in service.

4 p.m. (More) power to the people

The number of Martin County FPL customers still without service has dropped to 4,500, or 5% of the utility's customers here. That's down from more than 26,000 who lost power Wednesday when Hurricane Ian's tropical-force winds whipped the county.

Early Thursday morning roughly 22% of FPL customers in the tri-county region were without power. By 4 p.m., that was down to 12%, the company said.

2:30 p.m. - Tropical storm warning lifted

Martin County is no longer under a tropical storm warning, according to the National Weather Service’s Melbourne office. Neither is St. Lucie.

However, the threat remains in Indian River, with wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour forecast in coastal areas.

1:46 p.m. Stuart resumes garbage pickup

Sanitation collection schedules resume Friday, city officials announced. Crews will service missed areas both Friday and Saturday to make up for Wednesday's and Thursday's missed pickups.

City Hall also is advising residents who have storm debris involving trees, limbs and branches to gather and place them neatly at the curb when weather permits.

Storm debris should not be placed in roadways, block sidewalks or be mixed with bulk items. Debris also should not be placed in gutters, over storm drains or open channels of water since this can block pipes and culverts.

1:32 FPL getting power restored

More than 6,000 Martin County FPL customers, or 7% of customers here, remain without power this afternoon. FPL has restored power to about 20,000 customers.

Early Thursday morning, roughly 22% of electric customers across the region were without power. That was down to 5% by 1 p.m. Thursday.

12:50 p.m. Martin County schools, IRSC reopen Friday

After a two-day shutdown for Hurricane Ian, the Martin County School District will reopen schools Friday.

"The district continues to carefully monitor local weather conditions alongside our partners at Martin County Emergency Management," the district said in a statement. "Teams have been working to address any individual needs that may exist for our schools and office sites."

Because of power outages across the community, the district will offer free meals to all students on Friday.

Individual schools will announce the status of events that were rescheduled because of the storm.

Officials of Indian River State College said all campuses would reopen Friday.

11:47 a.m. Just a day at the beach

While floods closed down roads and winds uprooted trees across much of the Treasure Coast, it was just another day at the beach for the dozens of people who flocked to Martin County's coast.

People walked dogs, sat on the sand and a couple even jumped in the water at Jensen Beach Park.

Ryan Smolen, of Stuart, walked into the ocean with a surfboard in hand.

He said he wanted to see if the hurricane created a swell to catch some waves.

Unfortunately, he walked out of the water with no waves high enough to surf. Smolen said he couldn’t remember the best waves he’s caught during a hurricane, but takes each day in the water as it comes.

“If it’s a good one I get it, if I don’t I miss it.”

— Mauricio La Plante

11:45 a.m. - Tropical storm warning

The National Weather Service issued an advisory saying Martin County remains under a tropical storm warning.

Northwest winds, especially along Florida's northeast coast, were expected to reach 46-57 mph with gusts up to 75 mph. Tropical storm force winds are possible until early Friday.

Seas were expected to be 11 to 16 feet near shore and up to 20 feet offshore. A storm surge up to 2 feet could be seen through Sunday evening.

Strong winds are causing hazardous seas, which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility. Mariners are advised to remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter their course, and/or secure their vessel.

10:52 a.m. Time for your coffee fix?

Many businesses are still closed, but Gilbert's Coffee Bar in Stuart was open for residents who may have had a tough night riding out the storm.

9:56 a.m. - Cleveland Clinic Martin Health to reopen

Cleveland Clinic Martin Health, which operates several Martin North Hospital and Martin South Hospital in Stuart, will reopen ambulatory clinics at 10 a.m. This includes rehabilitation and urgent care centers.

Ambulatory surgery centers will reopen at noon. Patients may call 800-546-4138 for more information.

9:30 a.m. Power outages

In Martin County, about 8,600 Florida Power & Light customers were without service Thursday morning, the company reported.

Across the rest of the Treasure Coast, FPL reported more than 26,000 customers without power in Indian River County and 40,290 in St. Lucie County.

About 22% of FPL customers on the Treasure Coast are without power this morning.

More than 4,000 Fort Pierce Utilities Authority reported about 4,000 customers in the dark, the utility said.

9:05 a.m. Trees down in Stuart

Trees are down in the St. Lucie Crescents neighborhood of Stuart. City crews are busy trying to clear the aftermath.

Read about how neighbors helped neighbors, with chainsaws and rakes, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian winds:

'If they own a chainsaw, they pretty much brought it' to help remove tree in Stuart

9:03 Damage along East Ocean Blvd.

8:50 a.m. Vegetation blown near roads

U.S. 1 south of the Roosevelt Bridge to SE Monterey Road is lightly traveled and dry, unlike Wednesday when the roadway was slick from rain. Signs of blown down vegetation. Crews used heavy equipment to remove a downed palm tree in front of Martin County School District headquarters as downed palm fronds scattered in grass area in front of the building.

7:49 a.m. Stuart assessing damage

The city of Stuart was deploying crews early to determine the extent of damage across the city.

7 a.m. - Power outages rising

More than 14,600 Florida Power & Light Co. customers in Martin County are experiencing a power outage, about 15.5%.

4 a.m. - What’s closed during Hurricane Ian?

The Martin County School District is closed Thursday, along with all government facilities.

Click here for an exhaustive list of local closures and cancellations.

1 a.m. - Tornado watch ends

A tornado watch issued by the National Weather Service Wednesday afternoon has ended. Nine Florida counties, including Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River, were included in the watch.

For soccer fans already missing the World Cup, here’s a bit of good news: The Women’s World Cup starts in less than seven months.

And for girls and young women on the Treasure Coast who dream of playing in that event someday, here’s some even better news: There will soon be a local team that could help them hone the skills they’ll need to get there.

The United Soccer League has announced an expansion team, to be known as the Palm City Americanas, and will begin play in the USL W League in May.

The USL W is a pre-professional league, designed to serve as the next step on the ladder for top amateur women players who may want to pursue careers in college or professional soccer.

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Climbing the ladderFive Treasure Coast area girls soccer teams begin quests in the state playoffs

More on the region's soccer futureMassive youth sports complex, hotel, charter school planned for St. Lucie County

Lisa Padan, USL W's communications and content manager, said the Americanas will compete in the league's southeast division, which includes teams from Caledonia, S.C., Tampa Bay, St. Johns County and two teams from the Miami area. Although the schedule hasn't been released yet, games will be held from May through July.

The USL W isn't affiliated with the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of professional women's soccer in America. Padan said in an email: "The USL, however, has announced a professional league, the USL Super League, which will complete the full youth-to-professional pathway under the USL."

Top players from the USL W could advance to the USL Super League, which is slated to begin play next year.

The Americanas will play their home games at the Football Farm at 6155 S.W. Leighton Farm Ave., near where Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike converge in Palm City.

Christopher Corey, the Americanas' founder, said ticket prices for home games are yet to be determined.

Corey, who is also one of the partners planning to develop a massive sports complex on 37 acres along Midway Road, a little over a mile west of Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County, said the USL W expansion team is the result of an unprecedented partnership involving seven youth league teams along the Treasure Coast.

Martin United, PSL Hurricanes, Treasure Coast United, Mako Soccer Club, Indian River Soccer Academy, Jensen Beach Soccer Club and Indiantown Warriors Soccer will all provide players to the new team.

The best players who have aged out of the youth league system will be able to continue their careers with the Americanas. Also, some talented younger players might split time between their youth club teams and the Americanas.

Palm City was chosen as a site partly because the Football Farm facilities are there and partly because it's a centralized location among the communities in St. Lucie and Martin counties.

“This team is such an exciting announcement for the Treasure Coast, and now our clubs will come together to show that we are a major demographic for talent and resources in the sport,” Corey said. “There is strong demand to develop the women’s game, we are thrilled to be delivering a big step. A pre-professional league such as the USL W League is such a great opportunity for female athletes on the Treasure Coast.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Palm City Americanas to the W League,” said Joel Nash, USL's vice president of youth and pre-professional properties. “Continuing to expand our footprint here in Florida with a club that represents a collection of clubs on the Treasure Coast will create numerous opportunities for local talent and we are excited to see the impact this club makes on and off the pitch.”

To hear their leaders describe it, getting the seven youth league teams to collaborate on this project was nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

Rich Creber, president and director of coaching for Martin United, said youth teams tend to be "tribal," focusing on their own success and the individual communities they represent.

Placing players on the Americanas gives them all a common goal.

"We're all in it for the same reason: We want to help kids reach their potential," Creber said. "It (the Americanas) is a bit like a shining star, I suppose. It gives everyone a vision of where they need to get to."

Creber said buy-in from players, coaches, parents and soccer fans in the region will be critical to the Americanas' success.

"We need people who are going to be sails, not people who are anchors," he said.

The new team can provide lessons in life skills that can benefit girls and women, even if professional soccer isn't in their future.

"It kind of puts the Treasure Coast on the map as well," Creber said. "We've been losing our best players to other areas,"

Seth Duston, president of Treasure Coast United, agreed with Creber about the club teams' tendency to disagree.

"It's very territorial," Duston said. "It always has been. This has the potential, and it's always been a dream of mine, to be more collaborative."

Duston said the Americanas represent an opportunity to focus on the "greater good" of player development, not just the prosperity of individual clubs.

"To me, getting the logistics and the management and oversight in place would be an indicator of success," Duston said. "It's a unique opportunity. If we can pull this off, it'll be a coup."

Duston said the alliance could be precedent-setting in Florida, where inter-club cooperation isn't usually the norm.

Personally, as someone who dreamed of a pro soccer career until reality took hold around my freshman year in high school, I am excited about this.

The U.S. women's national soccer team has played at a higher level than our men's team since the early 1990s.

My alma mater, the University of Florida, fields a Division I women's soccer team, but no men's team. I enjoy watching its games, although the team hasn't been quite the same since the Abby Wambach years. Wambach, who later went onto stardom for the U.S. national team, was part of the Gators' only women's soccer national championship team in 1998.

I haven't seen a USL W game yet, but I got a chance to watch most of the USL League 1 Final on television a few weeks back. Tormenta, a team from Statesboro, Georgia, beat a team from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in front of what appeared to be an enthusiastic crowd. (Someone threw smoke bombs onto the field after each of Tormenta's goals, which I found distracting, but the players didn't seem too bothered.)

In light of all that, although it may be too late to be making this request, I sure wish Santa would leave an Americanas jersey under the Christmas tree for me.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at [email protected] or at 772-232-5424.

JUPITER, Fla. — On this first day of winter, it's ironic, appropriate and very South Florida for WPTV to have a big scoop of Italian ice with 10-year-old Jasmine Carney of Palm City.

She's the young girl everyone has come to know and love after she fought off a shark on Hobe Sound Beach about a month ago.

"I fought a shark and won," Carney told WPTV, shortly after the shark encounter. The shark took a bite out of her foot, forcing her to have surgery and briefly stay at a hospital.

Carney has been at home recovering and was recently able to go back to school. She uses a scooter to help her get around, as her doctors believe it will be about another month before she's fully recovered.

WPTV asked Carney how her recovery is going. "Great," she said. "I'm feeling really good. Swelling has gone down."

Carney is finding joy in modified dodgeball at school. She's also been spending time reading books about sharks, and she now has a theory on why a shark bit her in the first place.

WATCH: Jasmine Carney: 'I fought a shark and won'

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"The shark was chasing some food near the beach into shallow water, and then it saw my foot and bit me and thought it was a fish," she explained.

As WPTV met with Carney at Annie's Italian Ices in Jupiter, a surprise visitor showed up to meet Carney.

"The weather person," Carney said.

Carney and her family have been wanting to meet WPTV Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle since the day we first reported her story from her hospital bed.

Carney and Weagle chatted about the weather and closed a deal on a visit to WPTV.

"Can I," Carney asked Weagle.

"Yes, you can come to the station," he said.

WPTV is looking forward to Carney's visit once she's fully back on her feet.

Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PALM CITY, Fla. — An investigation is underway to find who painted swastikas, racist messages and other graphic images at the Martin Downs Country Club, a Black-owned golf course in Martin County.

"It's just a vile, vile act. We're not going to tolerate that here in Martin County," Martin County Sheriff's Office Lt. Yesenia Carde said.

News of the graffiti has left some concerning, including Jimmy Smith, the Martin County NAACP president.

"It's saddened me because we don't want to see things like that get to that level," Smith said. "It's a nice community over there and I'm quite sure the majority of the community over there is not with that kind of behavior."

Country club owners said this is the second time the golf course has been vandalized in the same location.

"I am surprised that we still have these challenges that people feel that need, do those things and send messages, and it's kind of hurtful because we have grown so far," Carde said.

In a report by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the act happened early Monday.

"They were on the path in the tunnel, so there was some on the wall and I believe there may have been some on the floor, spray-painted on the floor, so it just kind of spread throughout the tunnel," Carde said.

Deputies said the only access to the vandalized area is from the road by foot or golf cart, with no cameras.

"Typically, with the other incidents of vandalism that we've had have been during the holiday weekends when children have no school and sneak out at night, so we're looking at all angles," Carde said.

Deputies said a vandal left behind orange shoe prints from stepping on wet paint from the graffiti.

Based on evidence, they believe it could be a juvenile or juveniles and are asking area schools to be on the lookout for shoes with orange paint.

"We've got plenty of vandalism at the parks, the bathrooms, the causeways over by the beaches, but none with those symbols," Carde said.

Deputies said the graffiti left behind $1,000 in damages, and it'll be up to the golf course if it wants to press charges.

Stanley Campbell purchased the golf course in April 2021 at an auction.

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Cape Club of Palm City, formerly the Fox Club Florida, is set to open on Nov. 18 following an extensive renovation to both the golf course and the clubhouse.

Acquired by The Cape Club in May 2022, the 18-hole golf course and 16,500 square-foot clubhouse have undergone significant improvements since closing on July 1.

Located on the Treasure Coast in Palm City, Florida, The Cape Club of Palm City layout offers quintessential Florida golf, serving as a connection between tamed and untamed nature. Originally designed by Roy Case in 1989 and redesigned in 2004 by British Open champion Darren Clarke and former Walker Cup star Eoghan O’Connell, the course has been refreshed and redesigned once again in 2022 by The Cape Club Collection.

RELATED: Design Notes archiveRELATED: Richard Mandell — Principle of Par

The golf experience at Cape Club of Palm City is highlighted by strategic water features, risk/reward tee shots (tempting one with angles), creative mounding and slick, tour-quality greens often protected by signature Cape Club "Augusta White" sand. The meandering layout flanked with wetlands and preserves makes for a back-to-nature experience. Located 30 minutes north of the West Palm Beach airport, the renovated and rebranded facility will open as a premier private club.

"The excitement is reaching a fever pitch for the new Cape Club of Palm City," said Kristi Tower, the club's general manager. "We have been inundated with membership inquiries and are truly excited to unveil the club, and create lasting golf, social and culinary memories for our members and guests."

New ownership has completed extensive renovations throughout the golf course, including newly landscaped areas around the course and clubhouse, renovated bunkers with "Augusta White" sand, new coquina cart paths, as well as enhanced agronomic conditions. Clubhouse renovations include a completely renovated interior with a new dining room and an expanded back patio that runs the width of the building with fire pits, a new sound system and views of the ninth hole — formerly the 18th.

"The golf course will serve up one of the most memorable golf experiences in the region for Cape Club members and guests," said Brett Melton, Cape Club’s director of golf.

Capital improvements made by The Cape Club Collection represent a seven-figure investment in the golf course and clubhouse. Members of the rebranded and relaunched private club also have access to The Cape Club sister courses — The Cape Club of Sharon and The Cape Club of Falmouth, both located in Massachusetts.

TWITTER TIDBIT

A few shots from the site visit yesterday at Cypress Bend. This place is going to be special. Thanks to the whole team for all the hard work. pic.twitter.com/opxLLRwuK5

— Jeff Blume, ASGCA (@JeffBlumeASGCA) October 11, 2022

GLOBETROTTING GARL LANDS IN CONNECTICUTGlobetrotting architect Ron Garl is continuing renovation efforts on the Mohegan Sun Golf Club in Baltic, Connecticut. Opened in 1960 as the Geoffrey Cornish-designed Pautipaug Country Club, the course was purchased by the Mohegan Sun Casino in 2008 and renovated by Robert McNeill in 2011.

Garl, who has left his design imprint on nearly 300 courses in ten countries, including more than 100 courses in Florida, began renovations last winter. He has removed or relocated fairway bunkers that overly penalized less skilled golfers and did the same for fronting greenside bunkers to make the greens more accessible to a wider variety of players. Garl will eventually renovate every bunker on the course, including shallowing out some bunkers that were too deep for the clientele that use the course.

“We’ve made it so that people play faster, make it more enjoyable and people will want to come back," Garl told New England Golf. "That's what golf is really about today."

In the winter of '22-'23, Garl intends to build new, softer sloping greens at the par-4 third and par-4 12th holes. Work is expected to be completed by spring 2024.

WARREN REMODELS A CLASSICBenjamin Warren of Artisan Golf Design will begin remodeling Classic Golf Club in Fukuoka, Japan, in January 2023.

Warren, who was raised in North Berwick and who has worked on projects for Gil Hanse and Tom Doak’s Renaissance Design, will spearhead the transition from the traditional two-green concept common in Japan — a different grass for winter and summer play — to a single green per hole, plus effect a redesign from tee to green.

Originally designed by Shoichi Suzuki and Yuzo Tanimizu in 1990, the 27-hole layout (King, Queen and Prince nines) of the Classic Golf Club has played host to many significant professional tournaments, most recently the 2020 Japan Women’s Open Championship. Most major events are contested on a layout comprised of the King and Queen nines, which will be the first two nines to be altered according to Warren’s plan.

Among the classic accents to come in the redesign are a boomerang green at the sixth, a Cape-style hole at the 14th, a Road Hole inspiration at the 15th and a new risk/reward opportunity at the watery 18th.