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(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Nicole is forecast to strengthen Tuesday and Wednesday as it approaches Florida, and is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches land Wednesday evening.
Landfall is forecast for early Thursday morning around Melbourne or Cocoa Beach.
The storm could impact election week in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 of Florida’s 67 counties.
Meanwhile, Florida Power & Light has urged customers to prepare for power outages and activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.
“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Florida Power & Light chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement Monday.
The Palm Beach School District is closing schools Wednesday and Thursday due to the storm.
Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month.
Nicole’s center is expected to move near or over the Bahamas before heading to Florida.
When Nicole makes landfall in Florida, cities may see flash flooding, with more than 6 inches of rain possible from West Palm Beach to Cape Canaveral.
The highest storm surge is expected from West Palm Beach to southern Georgia, where water could rise up to 6 feet.
Storm surge is also possible on the west coast of Florida; Tampa could see 3 feet of storm surge.
Nicole will then move north quickly, dropping heavy rain in the Carolinas, mid-Atlantic and New England. Three to 4 inches of rain is possible from Raleigh, North Carolina, to New York to Boston Friday into Saturday morning.
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