South Floridians prepare for Tropical Storm Nicole: ‘It’s going to be nasty here’

People waded shirtless and barefoot through knee-high water. Hollywood residents posed for pictures on the dismal beach as waves crashed around them. The rising tide pooled around the bright, tropical green Old Key Lime House restaurant in Lantana yet bartenders were still ready to serve happy hour drinks.

It was peak Florida as Tropical Storm Nicole’s outer bands started to lash South Florida on Wednesday, causing flooding in coastal areas and bringing gusts of high winds.

Nicole is a large storm moving miles closer to West Palm Beach with each hour, its wind speeds holding steady at 70 mph. It is expected to make landfall on Florida’s shore Wednesday night at hurricane strength, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Storm surge breached sea walls and slammed up against beachside structures along the state’s east coast already left vulnerable from Hurricane Ian. From South Florida to the Treasure Coast, streets flooded as the first bands of rain from the massive system ventured inland.

Some seasoned South Florida residents said they weren’t alarmed as Nicole traversed the Bahamas. Others are anticipating a potentially rough night, when Nicole is forecast to reach the east coast and high tides roll back in.

‘Nasty’ weather

As large waves pounded the beach in Hollywood, Richard Bradford, 40, watched in awe.

“I have never seen anything like this on this beach in my 40 years,” he said. “By tonight the waves will be over the seawall.”

The city moved all its lifeguard stands back from their original spots to sit up against the seawall in preparation. Bradford said he saw two lifeguard stands tilting earlier in the day before they were moved.

Fort Lauderdale closed its beach Wednesday afternoon as the coast got hit with heavy rain, wind and high water from Tropical Storm Nicole. The city sent its lifeguards home and urged people to stay off the flooded roads.

”We want to make it clear: Don’t come out to the beach,” said city spokeswoman Arlene Borenstein. “The conditions were hazardous. If people try to drive here it’s going to be extremely dangerous and it could be fatal.”

Bradford lives in Dania Beach, where Nicole has caused major flooding before even reaching land. He said A1A was submerged.

“Look at those waves out there ... They must be 15 feet,” Bradford said. “It’s going to be nasty here tonight.”

The Hollywood Broadwalk, usually bustling with walkers, bikers and rollerbladers, was empty, and police were out to keep people off the beach. A few stragglers watched the waves grow larger, even as the rain came down hard. Not a single boat was visible.

Tourist Carmel Nadau, of Connecticut, is staying in a Hollywood condo. “I’m not worried,” he said. “The condo doesn’t have shutters up. I don’t think we will need them,” Nadau said.

Rain fell hard in a busy Costco parking lot midday as shoppers navigated their carts through puddles. Many of the carts were filled with cases of water as residents stocked up on supplies, just in case they lose power.

“I’m not scared of this storm,” shopper Michael Lemieux, 77, of Sunrise Lakes, said. “I would be if I lived near the sea, but I think I’m inland enough.”

John Gentile, who has a home in Davie and another in Port St. Lucie, was more concerned. His cart also was filled with cases of water. Gentile said he is debating putting the shutters up on his Port St. Lucie home but will make that decision this afternoon.

“It’s 50-50 right now,” Gentile said.

Lisa Weiss of Davie, a Broward teacher, said she is using her day off to stock up on supplies. She loaded cases of water into her car as the rain began to pick up.

“I’m a Florida native, so I am used to storms,” Weiss said. “I think we are going to get flooding.”

Flooding begins

In Dania Beach, many streets flooded Wednesday afternoon, particularly those close to the ocean as rough waves came onshore. Cars struggled to get down streets and stalled along the side of roads.

Tourist Jim Lane of Boston, wearing a soaking wet rain jacket, ate tacos on the patio of a Dania Beach taco stand along US 1. Lane said he had waded through the flooded streets from the condo where he is staying to get something to eat.

“I’m worried about what’s ahead,” Lane said. “It’s already flooded, and we haven’t seen the worst of it yet.”

Several low-lying, tidal-bound neighborhoods, including Las Olas Boulevard, Cordova Road and portions of A1A were impassable and may remain so until the storm has passed, Borenstein said. Fort Lauderdale Police said A1A between Vistamar Street and Northeast 9th Street was closed due to flooding.

In Hollywood, construction workers huddled under an overhang nearby a fenced site two blocks from the ocean. One of the workers said they were waiting to be told to go home. As heavy rain continued, the men became more confident their workday was over.

Several Starbucks in Broward County closed at noon, posting notes of closures “due to weather.”

Some not worried

In Briny Breezes, a coastal town of mobile homes south of Boynton Beach that sits on a barrier island bordering the Intracoastal, some streets were underwater, others barely wet. Palm Beach County ordered evacuations for mobile home communities and other vulnerable areas, effective Wednesday morning.

Pat Theodore, 91, and several others in Briny Breezes remained in their homes, despite the order. Theodore said he wasn’t aware of it.

He drove his golf cart to pick up mail in his mobile home park as the storm slowly flooded nearby streets. He’s lived through several hurricanes over the past 20 years and said he plans to stay for this one. He plans to hunker down and watch the news or the science channe.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that bad,” Theodore said.

So far, the storm has caused him at least one inconvenience: A neighbor from across the street was supposed to put up Theodore’s storm shutters, but flooding made the street impassable.

Nearby, a man worked to secure a generator to power electric pumps that help keep the waterways from flooding, as he said the power had already gone out.

At Two Georges Restaurant and Conch Bar in Boynton Beach, workers put up sandbags and moved items onto elevated surfaces. The restaurant, which opened in 1957, sits on the marina, a mandatory evacuation zone.

The main concern for Steve Scaggs, 32, whose family owns the restaurant, is the rising tide rather than the wind. Scaggs said he hasn’t seen a tide as high as today’s since Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

At the Old Key Lime House in Lantana, Matt Franklin, 33, sat outside in a raincoat amid gusts of wind and rain, waiting to park people’s cars.

Inside the restaurant, which looks out on the marina, it was as if the storm wasn’t happening: Customers watched sports games and enjoyed a late lunch, and on the balcony, families sipped iced tea and gazed at the water. On the wall leading into the restaurant, a framed news article declares that Old Key Lime House reopened only two days after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Earlier in the day, Franklin watched as high-tide waters flooded the parking lot and the roadway, coming close to where he sat. He hadn’t heard anything about an evacuation.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” he said.

Th water came up to Hayley Kennedy’s knees in the parking lot when she arrived to work as the restaurant’s hostess.

She said she was 1 year old when Hurricane Wilma hit, and she hadn’t experienced flooding as bad as this before. She worried the water could breach the restaurant. But so far, Old Key Lime House planned to stay open both Wednesday and Thursday, she said, and while she won’t be working, someone else will.

Outside Old Key Lime, Captain David, 63, arrived to rope down his boat, one of the few parked at the marina.

He said the boat had survived Hurricane Ian, where the winds in Lantana reached over 70 mph. He had faith it would survive Nicole as well.

“Oh, I know it will,” said Captain David, who declined to give his last name. “There’s 34,000 tons of it, so it ain’t going nowhere.”

Further up the coast, several structures were deemed unsafe in Daytona Beach Shores prompting police to evacuate them as waves caused more erosion, according to a report from NBC affiliate WESH. Social media posts from ABC affiliate WFTV reporter Christy Turner showed structures “falling into the ocean” as the waves continued their surge.

Information from the Orlando Sentinel was used in this report.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.