Nicole adds insult to injury for storm-weary Florida residents

"There is a strong potential that one or more buildings will collapse during this storm," said one official.

ByJosh Einiger WABC logo

Florida residents suffer outages, property damage in Nicole's wake

Josh Einiger reports live from Jensen Beach, Florida where residents are picking up the pieces the wake of Hurricane Nicole.

JENSEN BEACH, Florida (WABC) -- Nicole powered ashore in eastern Florida early Thursday morning, bringing high winds and heavy rain.

The storm arrived as a Category 1 hurricane and quickly weakened back to tropical storm strength.

But that didn't lessen the impact of the rain and wind for a region that has already been hammered by extreme weather this hurricane season.

Video from Jensen Beach early Thursday showed whipping winds and sheets of rain bending trees and crashing over barriers.

Power lines came down, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power in the Treasure Coast area around Palm Beach alone.

Nicole added insult to injury for residents in Daytona Beach, which was hard hit by Hurricane Ian six weeks ago.

Residents there had to be evacuated by law enforcement ahead of Nicole's arrival.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better," said Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood amid the evacuations on Wednesday. "If a building had been declared structurally unsound which is the result of Ian and (the owner) not being able to fix it, people have to take seriously what we're doing. There is a strong potential that one or more buildings will collapse during this storm."

Closer to where the storm was the strongest, on the barrier beach known as Hutchinson Island, properties fared better because the first storm never hit there.

But still, the effects of Nicole are obvious.

County workers spent the day working to replenish the sand that was lost. It's a ritual they usually repeat every three years, but public works manager Jessica Garland says the need is getting much worse.

Unlike Hurricane Ian, though, which killed 130 people, there have been no initial reports of deaths or injuries from Nicole.