Nicole makes landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane

Early Thursday morning, Hurricane Nicole made landfall south of Vero Beach, about 200 kilometers south of Miami, Florida, as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour.

However, it weakened to a tropical storm as it moved toward east-central Florida in the morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Nicole became the latest hurricane to hit Florida’s Atlantic coast in a year, breaking the record set by Hurricane Yankee on November 4, 1935.

This is also the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States in November in nearly 40 years.

The National Weather Center predicts the system will weaken to a depression on Friday before developing into a tropical cyclone over the southeastern United States.

Experts expect Nicole to move through central and northern Florida, into southern Georgia and reach the Carolinas on Friday.

In Florida, access has been cut to several bridges connecting the mainland to the state’s barrier islands.

Coastal roads such as Indian River Drive had previously been blocked as waves crashed against seawalls.

(Information from Euronews and CNN Spanish)