Nicole first November hurricane to strike Eastern US in over 40 years - 5 dead and 300 000 without power

Areas still recovering from Hurricane Ian are now threatened by another major weather event. Hurricane Nicole has killed 5 people so far and 12 million are under wind alert in Georgia and North / South Carolina. 

With only weeks left of the official hurricane season (starting in June and ending in November) the chances of 2022 statistically becoming an above normal year for hurricanes has just increased by 65%, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

According to an article on the Morning Star.com,  the Category 1 Hurricane Nicole was unusal: it was the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in November in nearly 40 years.

According to a Friday Nov 11 CNN-article, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, have been deemed "unsafe" in the aftermath of Nicole, which hit Florida's eastern coast south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday in Volusia County, Florida. 

The hurricane had weakened to a tropical storm on Friday as is was moving towards Georgia and the Carolinas. 

Hurricane Nicole pushed huge amounts of water onshore, damaging infrastructure which already damaged or strained by Hurricane Ian only weeks before. 

Waves were peaking at 6 feet (180cm) on Thursday and many streets were flooded with seawater.  Homes nearly eroded off the cliffs and some Daytona Beach hotels partly fell apart into the ocean, drone video showed.

"The devastation is almost impossible to comprehend. Imagine watching your home collapse into the ocean," Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood tweeted.

"Nicole is weakening as it passes Georgia and heads into the Carolinas, but it still poses dangers", CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said on Friday Nov 11. 

More than 300,000 customers in Florida were affected by power outages. The number had fallen by late Friday morning to about 14,000, according to PowerOutage.us. Many residents living relatively inland were also affected. 

Two people died after being electrocuted by a downed power line  in Orange County, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Two more deaths are being investigated as possibly storm-related following a fatal car accident, according to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

A 68-year-old Port Canaveral man was killed on a yacht early Thursday morning, "being battered by the waves and the dock," according to the Cocoa Police Department. 

Power lines that are down but still live in flooded streets is one of the hazards residents now are forced to deal with in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole. 

Photo Credit: (Cover photo above) Drone footage from local emergency authorities.