Hurricane Nicole gave Florida a late-season punch as it officially made landfall early Thursday on North Hutchinson Island just south of Vero Beach. The storm made an official landfall around 3 a.m.
The hurricane was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm within an hour of landfall. As of 1 p.m. ET, Tropical Storm Nicole had top sustained winds of 45 mph. It is expected to continue dissipating today and is expected to become a tropical depression within the next 24 hours.
Over 300,000 power customers were without electricity Thursday afternoon.
The large size of the storm is causing tropical storm conditions as far north as Georgia and South Carolina.
While it will no longer be a tropical storm, Nicole is expected to lift north and dump heavy rain along the Appalachians and northeast U.S. on Friday.
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 34 Florida counties.
On Wednesday, President Biden approved an emergency declaration for dozens of Florida counties.