Nicole heads up East Coast after 4 deaths in Florida
Nicole made landfall as a hurricane Thursday morning.
Nicole made landfall along Florida's east coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday before weakening to a tropical depression later that night.
It was the second-latest hurricane landfall in a calendar year on record in the United States.
Nicole formed as a subtropical storm in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends later this month.
Latest headlines:
Nicole moving northwest, 40 miles away from Florida's capital
Tropical Storm Nicole is making its way northwest in Florida at around 15 mph. The storm is generating wind speeds of 40 mph and is located about 40 miles southeast of the state's capital city, Tallahassee, as of 7 p.m. ET.
-ABC News' Daniel Peck
4 dead in Orange County, Florida
Four deaths have been tied to Tropical Storm Nicole, all in Florida's Orange County.
A man and a woman died after they were electrocuted by a downed power line on Thursday morning, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
“We are urging all of our residents and visitors to use extreme caution if they are outside in the wake of the storm today,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Never touch a downed power line. If you are driving and see a downed power line, change directions immediately.”
Two others died in a car crash on Florida's Turnpike in probable storm-related deaths, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.
Coastline damage 'unprecedented' in Volusia County
In Volusia County, Florida, damage along the coastline is “unprecedented,” according to county manager George Recktenwald.
Nineteen hotels or condos and 40 single-family homes have been compromised after sustaining damage from the storm, said Kevin Captain, the county’s director of community information. Some of the buildings partially collapsed, he said.
No deaths have been reported in the county, Captain said. One person has been injured, he said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Arancio
Nicole’s forecast
Tropical Storm Nicole’s heavy rain is focused on North Florida as its powerful winds pummel Florida and the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.
Nicole will continue to weaken over the next 24 hours as it races up the East Coast.
On Friday morning, the rain will target Georgia, the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic. Flash flooding is possible.
The eastern Carolinas and eastern Virginia could see severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
The rain will spread into Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia Friday morning and then reach New York by lunchtime and New England in the afternoon.
The heaviest rain and biggest potential for flash flooding will be in the interior Northeast.
Scattered thunderstorms are also possible.
-ABC News’ Dan Peck