On Wednesday afternoon, a storm that was headed towards Florida intensified into Hurricane Nicole, forcing residents of various areas of the state, including the Mar-a-Lago resort of former President Donald Trump, to evacuate.
Coastal floods, strong gusts, rain, rip currents, and beach erosion are predicted from Hurricane Nicole, according to Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Re-Elected Gov. Ron DeSantis Gives Update About Hurricane Nicole
DeSantis stated at a press conference in Tallahassee that winds were the main cause for worry and that there may be substantial power outages, but that 16,000 lineman, 600 guardsmen, and seven search and rescue teams were prepared to restore electricity.
Per Fox News, DeSantis predicted that the storm's planned landfall "would affect significant portions of the state of Florida all day." According to the governor, 15 shelters have opened throughout Florida's east coast and almost two dozen school districts were closing their doors due to the hurricane.
Before moving towards Georgia and the Carolinas later Thursday and Friday, Hurricane Nicole was anticipated to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday night and unleash a storm surge that may severely destroy many of the beaches damaged by Hurricane Ian in September.
It was predicted that the area will receive a lot of rain. On Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Hurricane Nicole's center was 100 miles to the east of West Palm Beach, Florida. It was travelling west at 13 mph and had a top sustained wind speed of 75 mph.
A tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph made landfall on Great Abaco island few hours prior to the larger storm making impact on Grand Bahama as a hurricane. Since Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 hurricane that destroyed the archipelago in 2019, Nicole is the first storm to make landfall in the Bahamas.
DeSantis Declares State of Emergency
Michael Brennan, the acting NHC Deputy Director, said that Florida has already seen storm surge flooding along its east coast even though Nicole is still more than 100 miles away, as per NY Post. Florida residents living along the shore were advised by the Melbourne National Weather Service to stay away from beaches as the sea levels are anticipated to rise. As Nicole approached the Sunshine State, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 34 counties.
At least four school districts canceled classes for Thursday and Friday, while other counties issued evacuation orders for low-lying regions, barrier islands, and mobile homes.
DeSantis posted on Twitter that "we have 16,000 linemen staged, 600 guardsmen mobilized, and 7 Urban Search and Rescue teams on readiness to deploy." A state of emergency has been declared in the majority of Florida's 67 counties. As of Wednesday night, Nicole was located around 105 miles to the east of West Palm Beach.
On Wednesday, Orlando International Airport suspended commercial operations and Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort closed early. Ron DeSantis, the recently re-elected governor of Florida, informed citizens at a press conference on Thursday that Nicole will "impact vast areas of Florida."
With storm surges of up to 5 feet, the NHC has predicted the possibility of flash flooding over the Florida peninsula. Local authorities said that the sea wall along Indian River Drive, which is close to the Atlantic Ocean, had already been breached.
According to the NHC, Nicole's center is 485 miles from where tropical storm-force winds are present. Nicole's tardy approach comes after a storm season that was comparatively peaceful; for the first time since 1997, no hurricanes or tropical storms developed in the Atlantic basin in August. On Thursday, it was predicted that Nicole will go to southern Georgia and the Carolinas on Friday, as per BBC News.