Status: 10.11.2022 11:31 a.m
Storm Nicole has since been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm. Now it has hit the east coast of the USA in a weakened form in Florida.
Storm Nicole made landfall southeast of Orlando, weakening from a hurricane to a tropical storm. In its current report, the US hurricane center NHC only speaks of a tropical storm with wind speeds of 110 km/h. The storm is expected to continue to lose momentum over the US state of Georgia.
Tropical Storm Nicole developed into a hurricane on its way from the Bahamas to Florida. The authorities then ordered evacuations, which also affected former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
A hurricane in November is a rare event in Florida, which is generally used to storms. This has only happened twice since records began in 1853 – Hurricane Yankee in 1935 and Hurricane Kate in 1985. The wind speed of a storm classified as a hurricane is at least 120 km/h.
Hurricane Nicole is gaining strength off the coast of Florida
Tagesschau 06:00 a.m., 10.11.2022
Florida already affected by “Ian”.
“Nicole” is expected to cause a storm surge in Florida that will further damage beaches already affected by Hurricane “Ian” in September. The storm is then expected to move to Georgia, North and South Carolina and weaken further. Heavy rains of up to 100 liters per square meter are expected.
The center of the storm was about 160 kilometers east of Palm Beach on Wednesday evening, according to the Miami National Hurricane Center. The maximum sustained wind speeds were 120 km/h. “Nicole” was moving westwards at 20 km/h.
Emergency shelters in the Bahamas
Just below the hurricane threshold, the storm center reached land over the Bahamian island of Great Abaco on Wednesday. Emergency shelters had been provided and public facilities closed in the Bahamas. According to initial media reports, flooding occurred on the Abaco Islands and the island of Grand Bahama. There, in the northwest of the island state, Hurricane “Dorian” was one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever measured in September 2019, causing more than 70 deaths and severe destruction.