Nerve-racking video shows a row of Florida homes teetering on the edge of an eroded cliff Thursday as Tropical Storm Nicole whipped the state with high winds and heavy rain — killing at least two.
Footage shot in Volusia County shows the homes perilously close to being swallowed up by encroaching waters as the storm chewed up several feet of beachfront.
Nicole became the first hurricane to make landfall in November in the US in 37 years when it slammed into the Sunshine State early Thursday, meteorologists said.
The 22 waterfront structures in Wilbur-by-the-Sea were evacuated after local officials deemed them unsafe, so no one was injured, according to Fox 35.
Meanwhile, several properties in the enclave already had their decks collapse into the sea as storm surges pounded their foundations.
Elsewhere, two people were killed in Orange County when they were electrocuted by downed power lines, police said.
Daytona Beach officials urged residents of more than a dozen buildings — many of them high-rises — to evacuate Thursday due to the storm.
Residents of vulnerable properties were told to gather their possessions and leave as emergency workers went door to door to sound the alarm.
Workers check on a possible gas leak at the Pirates Cove Condos after part of the building collapsed. APDaytona Beach rental home manager Krista Dowling Goodrich said beachfronts were quickly eroding behind some properties as occupants scrambled to flee.
“While we were there, the whole backyard just started collapsing into the ocean. It went all the way up to the house,” she said. “The water also compromised the remaining land between a row of tall condominium buildings nearby.”
Roughly 130,000 residents, mostly located on Florida’s Space Coast, had lost power early Thursday.
The rare November storm made landfall at 3 a.m. as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm. The wild weather led to a state of emergency being declared in Florida, with 600 National Guard personnel at the ready.
Disney World and Universal Orlando both shuttered early Wednesday and said they would remain closed Thursday as the storm rolled across the state.
Several Florida airports, including Orlando International, also ceased operations on Wednesday.
Miami International and Fort Lauderdale airports, located farther south, remained operational but experienced delays and cancellations.
With Post wires
