MIAMI -- A Florida-bound storm strengthened into Hurricane Nicole on Wednesday after pounding the Bahamas as U.S. officials ordered evacuations that included former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.
It's a rare November hurricane for storm-weary Florida, where only two such hurricanes have made landfall since recordkeeping began in 1853 -- the 1935 Yankee Hurricane and Hurricane Kate in 1985.
Nicole was expected to reach Florida on Wednesday night and unleash a storm surge that could further erode many beaches hit by Hurricane Ian in September before heading into Georgia and the Carolinas later today and Friday. It was expected to dump heavy rain across the region.
Nicole's center was located 100 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday night, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving west at 13 mph.
The sprawling storm became a hurricane as it slammed into Grand Bahama, having made landfall just hours earlier on Great Abaco island as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.
Nicole is the first storm to hit the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that devastated the archipelago in 2019.
In the Bahamas, officials said that more than 860 people were in more than two dozen shelters. Extensive flooding, downed trees and power and water outages were reported in the archipelago's northwest region.
In Florida, the St. Lucie County sheriff's office said in a tweet that storm surge from Nicole had already breached the sea wall along Indian River Drive, which runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean. The Martin County Sheriff's office also said seawater had breached part of a road on Hutchinson Island.
Residents in several Florida counties -- Flagler, Palm Beach, Martin and Volusia -- were ordered to evacuate such barrier islands, low-lying areas and mobile homes. Volusia, home to Daytona Beach, imposed a curfew and warned that intercoastal bridges used by evacuees would close when winds reach 39 mph.
Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club and home, is in one of those evacuation zones, built about a quarter-mile inland from the ocean. The main buildings sit on a small rise that is about 15 feet above sea level and the property has survived numerous stronger hurricanes since it was built nearly a century ago. The resort's security office hung up Wednesday when an Associated Press reporter asked whether the club was being evacuated and there was no sign of evacuation by early afternoon.
There is no penalty for ignoring an evacuation order, but rescue crews will not respond if it puts their members at risk.
At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis said winds were the biggest concern and and significant power outages could occur, but that 16,000 linemen were on standby to restore power, as well as 600 guardsmen and seven search and rescue teams.
Forty-five of Florida's 67 counties were under a state of emergency declaration.
Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie said Floridians should expect possible tornadoes, rip currents and flash flooding.
Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis, who is at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, drew attention to the link between storms and climate change.
"There have always been storms, but as the planet warms from carbon emissions, storms are growing in intensity and frequency," he said. "For those in Grand Bahama and Abaco, I know it is especially difficult for you to face another storm,"
Tropical storm force winds extended as far as 485 miles from the center in some directions.
New warnings and watches were issued for many parts of Florida, including the southwestern Gulf coastline which was devastated by Hurricane Ian, which struck as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 28. The storm destroyed homes and damaged crops, including orange groves, across the state. -- damage that many are still dealing with.
In Florida, the "combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the hurricane center said.
The storm is then expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday, forecasters said. It was then forecast to move across the Carolinas on Friday.
Information for this article was contributed by Zeke Miller and Terry Spencer of The Associated Press.
Waves washed ashore on Surf Road near Desoto Street as Tropical Storm Nicole continues to move towards the coast on Wednesday Nov. 9, 2022 in Hollywood Beach, Fla. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
A red flag, signaling high surf and strong currents, flies in strong wind on the beach in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, as Tropical Storm Nicole continues to increase in strength and is expected to make landfall along Florida's east coast early Thursday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Tropical Storm Nicole is forcing people from their homes in the Bahamas and it threatens to grow into a rare November hurricane in Florida on Wednesday. It already has shut down airports and prompted an evacuation order that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Guests leave the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, as conditions deteriorate with the approach of Hurricane Nicole. All 4 Disney parks in Central Florida closed early Wednesday because of the impending storm. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
The view of the intracoastal waterway from Mar-a-lago, former President Donald Trump's club in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Tropical Storm Nicole is forcing people from their homes in the Bahamas and it threatens to grow into a rare November hurricane in Florida on Wednesday. It already has shut down airports and prompted an evacuation order that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
A lifeguard hut looks out to the ocean as Tropical Storm Nicole makes its presence felt Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Tropical Storm Nicole forced people from their homes in the Bahamas and threatened to grow into a rare November hurricane in Florida on Wednesday, shutting down theme parks and airports while prompting evacuation orders that included former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.(Ricardo Ramirez/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
A pair of beach goers walk along the shore while waves crash as conditions deteriorate with the approach of Hurricane Nicole, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, in Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A pair of beach goers walk on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk as conditions deteriorate with the approach of Hurricane Nicole, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, in Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Police patrol the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk as conditions deteriorate with the approach of Hurricane Nicole, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, in Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)Gallery: Hurricane Nicole heads toward Florida
