Nicole weakens to tropical storm after making landfall in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Nicole made landfall in Florida early Thursday morning on the east coast of the state near Vero beach but almost immediately weakened to a tropical storm.

The storm still brought heavy rains and sustained winds of up to 70 mph and the National Hurricane Center continued to warn of dangerous storm surges and tropical storm conditions. More than 162,000 people were without power early Thursday morning and more than a dozen school districts remained closed.

The state Division of Emergency Management has summoned 600 members of the Florida National Guard, 16,000 electric-utility crews and seven urban search and rescue teams ahead of Nicole making landfall. Earlier in the week, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for dozens on counties and officials ordered around 120,000 people in Palm Beach to evacuate.

Early Thursday morning, the storm was heading into central Florida. State Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie on Wednesday warned residents in the path of the storm to begin preparing.

“I urge Floridians statewide to stay indoors in a safe structure, and away from the coastline,” Guthrie said. “The next few hours are your last chance to bring in potential damaging items before Nicole makes landfall.”

While potentially dangerous, Nicole is not expected to be as powerful as Hurricane Ian, which slammed into Florida’s west coast in late September as a Category 4 hurricane. That hurricane initially left more than 2 million without power and caused catastrophic damage along some coastal areas, including in Lee County where the storm made landfall.

At least 125 people were killed by hurricane Ian, many by drowning.

Florida Power & Light Co. CEO and Chair Eric Silagy said Wednesday morning the utility could not predict the number of customers who will lose power. But he said he expects trees to fall into power lines because the soil is saturated in South Florida and tree roots were left weakened by Hurricane Ian.

"We are hoping for the best but we are prepared for the worst," Silagy said. "That's why we have brought in the crews. We have our plan in place and we will execute on that plan."

Silagy said FPL had 13,000 workers on hand and was working to restore power to customers affected by outer rain bands from Tropical Storm Nicole.

U. S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson James Yocum said the storm does not pose a risk to the strengthened Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee. Communities around the lake were evacuated during Hurricane Irma in 2017 because of the threat to the flood control dike.

But the agency said with the lake at nearly 16 feet above sea level there may need to be discharges to lower the lake and protect dike. Those discharges in the past have been blamed for algae that has forced the closure of beaches and killed sea life.