As Nicole pushed through Northeast Florida 24 hours ago, the storm left behind coastal damage, flooding and some powerful video and images.
Sky 4 went up first thing Friday morning to survey the damage. From above, it captured a yellow house, sitting on the edge of the coastline in southern St. Johns County. There’s also a light blue house that we’ve been watching since Ian. That house is on stilts, and water is seen going underneath it.
As the helicopter scans the coast, it shows the ocean lashing up against homes along A1A, with hardly any sand to be seen. Trucks were out first thing this morning, pushing sand up against the coast.
A nor’easter brought extremely high tides before Nicole arrived, a recipe for disaster.
In Volusia County, the most dramatic images come from a beachside community called ‘Wilbur-by-the-Sea’. The storm washed chunks of the beach away, causing homes to crumble into the ocean.
The county has deemed at least 40 beach front buildings unsafe and at risk for collapse.
Much of St. Augustine’s historic district was underwater Thursday. The bay spilled onto streets and into businesses, some people using kayaks to get around. Others waded in the water that was above their knees.
It’s where our crews witnessed a horrible scene – where police say a man walking through the water was shocked. Good Samaritans and first responders did CPR and rushed him to the hospital – a sad reminder of the dangers of floodwaters.
In Jacksonville, we saw flooding from downtown to Hogans Creek. One resident said the water rose up so high, they had to call the fire department to rescue them.
At the height of the storm Thursday morning, a semitruck tipped over on top of the Dames Point Bridge. Troopers say the wind was to blame.
And while Nicole was serious, it also brought some lighter moments, like a runaway dumpster casually floating down the St. Johns River near Mayport and a teen fishing out his window in Orange Park.