Nicole strengthens into a hurricane after striking the Bahamas and is heading toward the east coast of Florida - CNN

Editor’s Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN’s lite site for debased bandwidth.

CNN  — 

Massive Hurricane Nicole was dumping rain on Florida Wednesday nighttime arsenic the tempest bore down connected the eastbound seashore of the Sunshine State, threatening to bring damaging winds and dense precipitation to immoderate places still recovering from Hurricane Ian.

Earlier the tempest battered the Bahamas portion strengthening from a tropical tempest to a Category 1 hurricane.

The oculus of Nicole is expected to marque landfall connected the Florida seashore precocious Wednesday oregon aboriginal Thursday, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Follow unrecorded updates >>

Nicole is connected a way to beryllium the archetypal hurricane to marque landfall successful the United States successful November successful astir 40 years.

Here are the latest developments:

• Nicole has sustained winds of up to 75 mph aft passing implicit the Bahamas.

• Tropical storm-force winds widen up to 485 miles from Nicole’s center, the hurricane halfway said. The tremendous upwind tract – wider than that of stronger Ian connected its Florida attack – means astir the full authorities volition consciousness winds of 39 mph oregon greater from Nicole.

• More than 5.3 cardinal radical are nether hurricane warnings and 4.1 cardinal are nether a hurricane watch.

• Around 3 to 8 inches are imaginable from the northwestern Bahamas to the eastern, cardinal and bluish portions of Florida. About 2 to 6 inches are expected from parts of the US southeast to the confederate and cardinal Appalachians and occidental mid-Atlantic done Friday, the hurricane halfway said.

• Coastal h2o levels could rise by arsenic overmuch as 6 feet supra mean tide successful the northwestern Bahamas, and up to 5 feet from Florida’s North Palm Beach to Georgia’s Altamaha Sound. Up to 4 feet of surge is imaginable to the southbound and northbound of that range, including done parts of South Carolina’s coast.

• Evacuations person been ordered. In immoderate cases authorities accidental the buildings are unsafe, arsenic 22 homes successful Volusia County and immoderate condo buildings successful New Smyrna Beach were deemed.

• The St. John’s River, which flooded successful immoderate areas aft Hurricane Ian, was approaching large flood signifier adjacent Astor and mean flood signifier adjacent DeLand.