Hurricane Nicole Kills Several People After Making Landfall in Eastern Florida: 300,000 Power Outages Reported

Hurricane Nicole killed several people after it made landfall in Eastern Florida in the early morning of Thursday, November 10.

It reportedly used the dead of night and cover of darkness to sneak into the shores of the Sunshine State before sunrise.

In addition to the multiple fatalities, hundreds of thousands of power outages were reported when Nicole arrived in the state as a Category 1 hurricane.

Two of the human casualties died from electrocution, while the remaining two others died during a road traffic accident caused by flooding due to heavy rain and strong winds brought by the raging hurricane, which affects not only in Florida but across the Southeast United States region.

Furthermore, the extreme weather event has also forced the evacuation of residents, especially in Florida's coastal areas.

Florida Under Chaos

While the US is holding its election week, Hurricane Nicole's arrival plunged Florida into chaos, forcing local authorities to cancel hundreds of flights and shut down many educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities, according to CNN.

The affected airports include the Orlando International Airport and the Miami International Airport.

Nicole initially struck Florida in an area south of Vero Beach with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), as cited by CNN.

Its powerful winds generated heavy downpours and a storm surge that pummeled the coastline.

Multiple weather alerts remain in effect such as a tornado threat, as well as hurricane warnings.

Approximately 300,000 power outages affected residential homes and buildings amid the first hurricane to hit the US in November in almost 40 years.

Nicole Batters Bahamas

In recent days, former Tropical Storm Nicole traversed the edge of Atlantic Ocean, where it made an initial landfall in the island country of Bahamas.

Earlier this week, multiple weather forecasts have shown that the greatest weather hazards for the former tropical rainstorm were torrential rain, damaging winds, and storm surge.

The earliest onslaught of Nicole was felt in the Bahamas, where residents were forced into evacuations and shelters after the storm made landfall in the northwestern part of the country on Wednesday, November 9, according to the Direct Relief, a non-profit humanitarian organization.

It was also during this period when meteorologists projected the future hurricane will head towards Florida.

Florida's Second Hurricane

Hurricane Nicole is the second hurricane to hit Florida during the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

It follows the destructive path of Hurricane Ian in the state over a month ago when it made landfall in southwestern Florida on September 28, causing widespread chaos, evacuations, and infrastructural damage. Ian also killed at least 100 people based on multiple reports.

Nicole's landfall on Thursday broke the record set by the Yankee Hurricane, which struck the Sunshine State's east coast in November 1935.

With this, multiple sources have attributed the recent arrival as a "rare November landfall," as described by AccuWeather.