Hurricane Nicole made landfall early Thursday along the east coast of Florida, just south of Vero Beach. The storm was already battering a large area of the storm-weary state with strong winds, dangerous storm surge, and heavy rain, officials said. The rare November hurricane had already led officials to shut down airports and theme parks and order evacuations that included former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Authorities warned that Nicole’s storm surge could further erode many beaches hit by Hurricane Ian in September. Nicole was a Category 1 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 75mph early Thursday, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was about 15 miles north-northwest of Fort Pierce and was moving west-northwest at 14mph.
Tropical storm force winds extended as far as 485 miles from the center in some directions. Nicole’s center is expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday and into the evening, and into the Carolinas on Friday, the AP reports. A few tornadoes will be possible through early Thursday across east-central to northeast Florida, the weather service said. Flash and urban flooding will be possible, along with renewed river rises on the St. Johns River, across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday. Heavy rainfall from this system will spread northward across portions of the southeast, eastern Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and New England through Saturday. Large swells generated by Nicole will affect the east coast of Florida, and much of the southeastern US coast over the next few days.
Officials in Daytona Beach Shores deemed unsafe at least a half-dozen, multi-story, coastal residential buildings already damaged by Hurricane Ian and now threatened by Nicole. At some locations, authorities went door-to-door telling people to grab their possessions and leave. At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that winds were the biggest concern and significant power outages could occur, but that 16,000 linemen were on standby to restore power as well as 600 guardsmen and seven search and rescue teams. Almost two dozen school districts were closing schools for the storm and 15 shelters had opened along Florida’s east coast, the governor said. Forty-five of Florida’s 67 counties were under a state of emergency declaration.
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