Updated Friday, November 11, 2022 – 09:46
Two people died from electrocution after being struck by a power line downed by strong winds, while a man suffered cardiac arrest on his yacht, which was being severely shaken by the waves.
Hurricane Nicole slammed into Florida on Thursday before losing strength and hitting with a combination of heavy rain and strong winds destroyed power lines, flooded houses and left at least three dead. About 350,000 homes and businesses in Florida were without power Thursday after the storm hit the Atlantic coast near Vero Beach north of Miami as a hurricane with sustained 75 mph winds.
Initial information indicated the deaths of two people who were electrocuted after a cable fell from the force of the tropical storm in Orange County, in central Orange County. also uA 68-year-old man died of cardiac arrest in Cocoa when Nicole caused strong waves to hit the yacht he was on.
Yvonne Martínez, a spokeswoman for the Cocoa Police Department in Brevard County, said a call for help was received from a woman who reported that her husband was in danger. “The couple were on their yacht that was docked in the Lee Wenner Park area,” said Martínez, who explained that they found the couple in the boat when help arrived. Firefighters managed to get onto the yacht and began CPR on the manwho was later taken to a medical center where his death was confirmed.
The eighth hurricane of the year in the Atlantic, Nicole was downgraded to a tropical storm and later to a depression shortly after moving inland.. Nicole is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone on Friday and will continue to bring heavy rain to the Southeast, the National Hurricane Center reported. “We are prepared and resources are available for post-storm needs,” the Florida governor said Ron DeSantisat a press conference. “It’s still a major storm, affecting much of the state”.
Several waterfront homes have collapsed in the luxury community of Wilbur-by-the-Sea. south of Daytona Beach, and several others were partially destroyed after waves churned up by strong winds eroded the foundations of buildings. Homes have already been evacuated and no one has been injured, said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood..
About 150 residents of two seafront apartment complexes were evacuated on Wednesday because buildings were at risk of collapsing from crumbling seawalls, Chitwood said. At Vero Beach, the Indian River county seat closest to where the center of the storm made landfall, much of the city’s boardwalk was swept away by powerful waves 25 to 30 feet high..
Volusia and Indian River counties were among several areas of the east coast hit hard by Hurricane Ian six weeks ago.a catastrophic Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast and then swept across the state to the Atlantic, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage and killing more than 140 people.
Kevin Guthrie, Florida’s emergency director, warned residents Thursday to stay indoors even after Nicole’s eye was over. “There are strong winds and a potential for tornadoes,” he said.
Cape Canaveral
Wind gusts of 100 mph (161 km/h) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, about 80 miles north of Vero Beach, hit a new $4 billion lunar rocket that NASA had moored at its launch pad to beat the storm survive. Initial inspections showed the spacecraft suffered only minor damage, including loose joints and torn waterproof covers.
By afternoon, Nicole had drifted northwest while cruising across central and northern Florida toward the edge of the Gulf Coast, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) recorded, mostly over the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane reported Center. The rains and blustery winds from the storm spread into Atlanta, Georgia’s largest city in northern Georgia, in the afternoon..
Most of Florida’s 22 million residents remained under various storm warnings and watches. About 17,000 utility workers organized across the state to restore power after the storm passed. State officials opened 15 shelters across the region and activated 600 National Guard troops.
More than 60 school districts across the state were closed Thursday. Orlando International Airport suspended commercial flights Wednesday, while Walt Disney Parks and other theme parks remained temporarily closed. Before reaching Florida, Nicole unleashed extensive flooding across much of the Bahamas, including the islands of Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Andros and the Abacos.
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