Damage is left behind by Tropical Storm Nicole on the Vero Beach Boardwalk. TROPICAL STORM NICOLE hit Florida as a hurricane, washing away the remaining protections for a stretch of beachfront properties that lost their seawall during Hurricane Ian only weeks before.
Krista Dowling Goodrich, who manages 130 rental homes in Daytona Beach Shores as director of sales and marketing at Salty Dog Vacations, witnessed the beachfront disappear behind some of the properties as evacuations were under way. Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at about 3am today, more than a hundred miles south of Daytona Beach Shores, before its maximum sustained winds dropped to 60mph, the Miami-based centre said.
Large swells generated by Nicole will affect the north-western Bahamas, the east coast of Florida, and much of the south-eastern United States coast over the next few days.Nicole is expected to weaken while moving across Florida and the south-eastern United States through Friday, and it is likely to become a post-tropical cyclone by Friday afternoon.
The main buildings sit on a small rise that is about 15ft above sea level and the property has survived numerous stronger hurricanes since it was built nearly a century ago. The resort’s security office hung up on Wednesday when an Associated Press reporter asked whether the club was being evacuated and there was no sign of evacuation by Wednesday afternoon.