Florida's damages from Hurricane Nicole will cost over $481 million
At Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach, severe beach erosion from Ian made homes vulnerable to the impact of Nicole
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Damages are estimated at more than $481 million in a central Florida coastal county where homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean following Hurricane Nicole last week.
The damages from the category 1 storm in Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, exceeded those from the much stronger Hurricane Ian, which caused $377 million in the county, officials said. Hurricane Ian, a category 4 storm, made landfall in southwest Florida in late September and tore across the state.
Moody’s Investors Service estimated insured losses from Ian at between $40 billion and $70 billion in Florida and North Carolina.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Severe beach erosion from Ian made homes vulnerable to the impact of Nicole in Wilbur-by-the Sea, a quaint beach community where single-family homes fell into the ocean last week. Volusia County officials said that at least 30 single-family homes in Wilbur-by-the-Sea and seven single-family homes in nearby Ponce Inlet have been deemed unsafe following Hurricane Nicole.
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In Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach, two dozen multistory condo buildings have been evacuated and deemed unsafe by building inspectors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Daytona Beach Shore by far had the most property damage in the county, estimated at $370.3 million, according to the Volusia County Property Appraiser. It was followed by New Smyrna Beach at $51.1 million and Daytona Beach at $50 million.
Waves lap the eroded beach below the half-collapsed homes of Nina Lavigna, left, and her neighbor, after Hurricane Nicole swept away sand from the beach and from under foundations, on Nov. 12, 2022, in Wilbur-By-The-Sea, FL. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The property appraiser's office warned that those figures would likely rise as more buildings are inspected.
For storm-weary Floridians, Nicole was the first November hurricane to hit their shores since 1985 and only the third since record-keeping began in 1853.
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The storm was blamed for five deaths in Florida. A man and a woman were killed by electrocution when they touched downed power lines in the Orlando area. Also in Orange County, one man died in a vehicle crash, and a male pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle because of poor road conditions. Another man died as waves battered his yacht against a dock in Cocoa, despite efforts to resuscitate him by paramedics who managed to get on board as the boat broke away from its moorings.