Nicole zips through Polk County with minimal damage and flooding

The eye of Tropical Storm Nicole passed through Polk County early Thursday morning but appears to have spared residents from much of the flooding and damage seen after Hurricane Ian.

Nicole briefly become a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall about  3 a.m. Thursday near Vero Beach. The storm traveled northwest and passed straight through Winter Haven and Lakeland before noon, according to meteorologist Austen Flannery of the National Weather Service's Tampa Bay office.

"When it made landfall, the storm had a more organized center," he said. "Then it started to fall apart and continues to look increasingly ragged."

Bartow had reported top wind gusts of 63 mph in Polk as of 9:30 a.m. Thursday, followed by 54 mph recorded in Winter Haven, and 52 mph in Lakeland. Rainfall amounts across the area vary from 2 to 3 inches of rain, with higher amounts measured near Polk City.

"One of the things that happens is when the storm makes landfall, the wind field tends to become a little larger," he said. "The core's stronger wind at 50 to 60 mph expands, covering a larger area."

As the storm unravels and expands, Polk residents will continue to see gusty winds and bands of rain, possibly heavy at times through Thursday afternoon. Flannery said he expected the weather to begin clearing up by Thursday evening.

Paul Womble, Polk's director of Emergency Management, said the county appeared to have relatively little damage other than a few down trees and a couple of traffic lights out of service. Womble said there was one report of roof damage so far, but Lakeland police officers said it was unconfirmed.

There were approximately 2,500 Polk residents without power across the county as of 6 a.m. Thursday, according to Womble.

"We’ve got a little bit of a ways to go yet but everything is clear in our county and everything is good," he said. "We’re hopeful this will be the last storm for this hurricane season. We’ve got three weeks to go."

Womble said he was not aware of any flooding in Polk, though the county is continuing to keep a watchful eye on areas as rain moves through. The Peace River at State Road 60 in Bartow was at 7.25 feet as of 9:15 a.m. Thursday morning. The water level is expected to rise through Friday, but is predicted to stay below flood sage.

In Winter Haven, two of the city's wastewater lift stations were without power, according to city spokeswoman Katrina Hill. City staff had both stations up and running on generators.

"Overall, it looks like we avoided major damage so far with this one," Hill wrote in an email.

Fort Meade experienced sporadic power outages Thursday morning, City Manager Jan Bagnall said. He estimated that 50 residents had been without electrical service at some point but said the city’s utility department had restored power to all of them by 10 a.m.

“I’d say they were out for – our longest went out at 1 in the morning and we didn't dispatch crews until 6 this morning, so they were out for about five hours,” Bagnall said.

The city manager said he saw no significant damage in Fort Meade from fallen trees or limbs. Crews replaced one power pole that was found to be tilted at a dangerous angle.

Bartow Mayor Steve Githens said the city seemed to have escaped the storm without any major effects. Some areas of Bartow sustained significant flooding from the Peace River in the days following Hurricane Ian.

“Very light,” Githens said of the storm’s effects. “There wasn't anything to note at all. And the communication I got from our fire chief is that there were no flooding concerns at this point.”

Many, but not all, businesses in downtown Lakeland appeared to be closed Thursday morning. Traffic was light on major roads.

A few walkers and runners were seen making use of the exercise path around Lake Hollingsworth amid the moderate rain and relatively light winds.

At Camp Mack, a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina and RV Resort on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Charlie Wynperle, a local tournament director and fishing expert, said two tournaments are set for the long Veterans Day weekend and conditions are extremely good for catching fish.

The unofficial rain gauge at the fish camp showed 2 inches of rainfall from Hurricane Nicole.

The Army Corps of Engineers had opened the locks along the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in the past week to allow the Kissimmee River flows faster. That improves fishing conditions, Wynperle said. The faster flows gather schools of fish into more concentrated areas so more fish can be caught.

One area he expects to see multiple catches – nicknamed the “goal post” – includes the mouth of Lake Cypress. In the past, up to 25 boats would congregate on this spot known for large hauls of up to 100 fish under current conditions, Wynperle said.

“The running water pattern is back on,” he said. “That’s why people love it, because you catch big numbers of fish. It’s going to be an awesome weekend.”

Downstream, the Kissimmee River carries water to Lake Okeechobee, which reached 15.94 feet on Thursday morning. The lake averages between 12 to 15 feet during the summer months.

Jim Yocum, a public affairs specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville, said the lake did not get a lot of water but the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes did gain high volumes of rainwater.

“There is a good possibility that we are going to make some fairly high-volume releases in the northern estuaries,” Yocum said.

The South Florida Water Management District operates the locks along the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. The navigation locks were closed to boaters in October due to Hurricane Ian.

"The South Florida Water Management District continuously monitors water elevations in our system, including Lake Kissimmee and the Kissimmee River," said Kathy LaMartina, regional spokeswoman for the District.

Due to Tropical Storm Nicole, all navigation locks are currently closed, so are District lands in the following counties, Polk, Orange, Osceola, Highlands, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach, she said.

By Thursday afternoon, about three inches of rain had fallen in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, according to Jason Schultz, public information coordinator with the district.

“We did our pre-storm drawdown in the canals and lakes and by doing that we created enough capacity that we didn't have any reports of major flooding problems associated with any of the lakes,” he added.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Nicole's wind and rain has little effect on Polk as it zips through