Hurricane Nicole Makes Landfall in Florida, Weakened by Tropical Storms – Nationwide

Hurricane Nicol, which was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly after making landfall along Florida’s east coast early Thursday morning, has wreaked havoc with high winds, damaging storm surges and heavy rains across large areas of the storm-weary state. rice field.

A rare November hurricane has forced authorities to close airports and theme parks and order evacuations in areas that include former President Donald Trump’s Club Mar-a-Lago.

Officials have warned that storm surges in Nicole could further erode many of the beaches hit by Hurricane Ian in September. A sprawling storm is forecast to head into Georgia and the Carolina late Thursday and Friday, bringing heavy rainfall across the region.

Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday morning before maximum sustained winds dropped to 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour), according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. The storm was centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Orlando. It was traveling west-northwest at nearly 22 kilometers (14 miles) per hour.

Strong tropical storm winds extended up to 450 miles (720 kilometers) from the center in some directions. Nicole was expected to fly across central Florida on Thursday morning and far northeast over the Gulf of Mexico in the afternoon before crossing the Panhandle and Georgia.

Forecasters said several tornadoes could form across eastern central and northeastern Florida through early Thursday morning. Flash floods and urban flooding are likely on Thursday with fresh surges in the St. Johns River across the Florida peninsula. Heavy rain will move northward into the southeast, eastern Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic, and parts of New England through Saturday.

The large swell generated by Nicole will affect much of the northwestern Bahamas, the east coast of Florida, and the southeastern United States coast in the next few days. The storm was expected to weaken into a tropical storm over Georgia on Thursday night or early Friday morning.

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Nicole turned into a hurricane Wednesday night when it slammed into Grand Bahama Island hours before making landfall on Great Abaco as a tropical storm. It was the first storm to hit the Bahamas since Category 5 Hurricane Dorian devastated the archipelago in 2019.

For storm-weary Floridians, it was the third November hurricane to hit the coast since record-keeping began in 1853. The previous hurricanes were the 1935 Yankee Hurricane and his 1985 Hurricane Kate.

Trump’s club and home, Mar-a-Lago, was in one of the evacuation zones built about 400 meters inland from the sea. The main building sits on a small hill about 15 feet (4.6 meters) above sea level and has survived many powerful hurricanes since it was built nearly a century ago. The resort’s security office hung up on Wednesday when an Associated Press reporter asked if the club was being evacuated, and there were no signs of an evacuation by Wednesday afternoon.

There are no penalties for ignoring evacuation orders, but rescue teams will not respond if members are in danger.

Officials at Daytona Beach Shores have determined that at least half a dozen multi-story coastal homes already damaged by Hurricane Ian and now threatened by Nicole are at risk. In some places, authorities went door to door, telling people to take their belongings and leave.

Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort announced Thursday that the parks will likely not open as scheduled.

At a news conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said wind was his biggest concern and could lead to major power outages, but 16,000 linemen are working to restore power. 60 security guards and seven search and rescue teams are on standby.

“It will affect most of Florida all day long,” DeSantis said of the storm’s expected landfall.

Nearly 20 school districts have closed schools due to the storm and 15 shelters have opened along Florida’s east coast, according to the Florida governor.

A state of emergency has been declared in 45 of Florida’s 67 counties.

Warnings and alerts have been issued for many areas of Florida, including the southwestern Gulf of Mexico coastline devastated by Category 4 Hurricane Ian. The storm destroyed homes across the state and damaged crops, including orange groves. It’s damage that many people are still dealing with. Ian caused storm surges up to 13 feet (4 meters), causing widespread damage.

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