More than 345,000 homes and businesses across central Florida were without power Thursday as Hurricane Nicole, downgraded to a tropical storm but still large and dangerous, slammed the region with powerful winds and heavy rain.
The rare November hurricane, which made landfall south of Vero Beach early Thursday as a Category 1 storm, was centered about 30 miles northeast of Tampa at 10 a.m. The National Hurricane Center warned that Nicole would bring heavy downpours, strong winds, dangerous storm surge and flooding across a swath of the Southeast over the next couple of days.
"This is a life-threatening situation," wrote Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center, in an advisory. People in the region, he said, "should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions."
Tornado watches were issued for parts of Florida and Georgia. St. Augustine, where the iconic Bridge of Lions spanning the Intracoastal Waterway was under siege from Nicole, was briefly under a tornado warning Thursday morning.
"The city is flooding at a rapid pace and the Bridge of Lions is closed," the city said in a Twitter post. "There are several roads that are impassable and closed, more than the usual flooded areas."
The storm washed more sea turtle eggs ashore across the Treasure Coast, just weeks after Hurricane Ian caused similar damage to nests. Several cracked and broken sea turtle eggs were found washed up with scattered debris on to a wooden boardwalk and beach access Thursday at Santa Lucea Beach in Martin County.
Residents report similar sightings across the Treasure Coast, where beaches with known turtle nests were wiped out by the storm surge and waves. After Hurricane Ian in September, hundreds of sea turtle eggs were unearthed and scattered across a beach in Fort Pierce and other Treasure Coast cities.
Some communities were breathing a sigh of relief after Nicole's center rolled through. In Fellsmere, a town of 5,000 people 20 miles northwest of Vero Beach, police said on Facebook that all streets were open except one that was blocked by a fallen tree.
"There is no major flooding anywhere in the city and as of the time of this post no downed power lines have been observed," police said.
Janet and Ken Comey of Satellite Beach were among the people gathered at Pelican Beach Park on Thursday morning to look at the waves during high tide. They said they fared well during the storm. The couple moved from New Hampshire to Satellite Beach three years ago.
"When we moved here, the first thing we did was put in a full-house generator," Janet Comey said. "We've never had to use it."
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