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Tropical Storm Nicole marched across Florida on Thursday, weakening but still carrying a powerful punch with a mix of heavy rains and fierce winds that downed power lines, flooded homes and left at least two people dead.
As many as 350,000 homes and businesses across Florida were without power on Thursday after the storm struck the Atlantic Coast near Vero Beach, north of Miami, at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT), as a late-season hurricane packing sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour).
“We’re ready and resources are available for the post-storm needs,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference. “This is still a large storm and it is impacting much of the state. Winds are the main concern with Nicole.”
Several beachfront homes collapsed in the upscale community of Wilbur-by-the-Sea, just south of Daytona Beach, and several more were left teetering on the brink after surging waves of surf kicked up by Nicole’s high winds undercut the buildings’ foundations.
The homes had already been vacated and no one was injured, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
About 150 residents from two shoreside condominium complexes had been evacuated on Wednesday because the buildings were in danger of collapse from crumbling seawalls, Chitwood said.
