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 weakens to tropical depression
Nicole has weakened to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds now down to 35 mph.
The storm is currently moving to the northwest at 15 mph and the center is located about 20 miles north of Tallahassee.
All tropical storm and storm surge warnings have been canceled.
-ABC News' Dan Peck
Evacuations ordered of ‘unsafe’ buildings in Florida county
Officials in Volusia County declared that 49 beachfront buildings are “unsafe” and have ordered people to evacuate amid now-Tropical Storm Nicole.
“The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,” County Manager George Recktenwald said on the county’s website. “We have never experienced anything like this before, so we ask for your patience as we make our assessments. As always, the safety of our residents and visitors is our top priority. This is going to be a long road to recovery.”
Some of the impacted buildings are hotels and condos, officials said.
-ABC News’ Matt Foster
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.
Latest forecast as Nicole moves across central Florida
The center of Tropical Storm Nicole is expected to move across central Florida on Thursday morning, possibly emerging over the far northeastern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday afternoon, then move across the Florida Panhandle and Georgia on Thursday night and Friday, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.
Although "additional weakening" is in the forecast, the National Weather Service warned on Thursday morning that "Nicole remains a large tropical storm" and "strong wind, dangerous storm surge and waves, and heavy rains continue over a large area." Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 450 miles from Nicole's center, especially to the north. Sustained winds of 49 mph with a gust of 70 mph were reported early Thursday in Daytona Beach, Florida.
According to the National Weather Service, tropical storm conditions will continue along portions of the eastern coastlines of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in the warning areas on Thursday. Tropical storm conditions are expected to occur within the warning area along Florida's west coast through Thursday night.