Hurricane Nicole closed in on Florida's Atlantic shoreline early on Thursday with a brew of heavy downpours, fierce winds and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that threatened coastal areas still reeling from the last major storm six weeks ago.
Upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane as it thrashed the Bahamas on Wednesday, Nicole was packing sustained winds of up to 75 mph as it neared landfall along the east coast of Florida north of Miami, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Storm surges wreaked havoc along the state's Gulf Coast and its eastern seaboard when Hurricane Ian crashed ashore on Sept. 28 and plowed across the Florida Peninsula to the Atlantic, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage and killing more than 140 people. Volusia was one of several coastal counties where officials issued mandatory evacuation orders or advised residents in oceanside communities and barrier islands to seek higher ground.
More than a dozen school districts were closed on Wednesday and more than 20 school districts across the state were scheduled to be shuttered on Thursday. Orlando International Airport announced it was ceasing commercial operations on Wednesday afternoon. Nicole was expected to diminish to tropical-storm status once it moves over Florida, then churn north over the next two days through Georgia and into the Carolinas.
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