One of the worst droughts on record has water managers reconsidering a plan to keep Lake Okeechobee lower than usual year-round, a step once considered necessary to protect the lake’s aging dike ...

About 2,000 people, including 116 residents of a nursing home, were awakened by sirens before dawn and evacuated from four riverside areas before water surged over the dike protecting a park.

Before the drought, South Florida’s major water management focus was on safety concerns raised last year about the 70-year-old earthen dike around the 730-square-mile lake.

Rainfall from Hurricane Irma has pushed the water level in Lake Okeechobee to its highest point since 2005. Now, with more wet weather in the forecast, nearby residents fear a collapse of the 80 ...