Nicole makes landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane

Some coastal homes and buildings in eastern Florida’s Volusia County have collapsed into the ocean after Nicole pushed a huge volume of water onshore, according to officials and images from CNN affiliates.

In Wilbur-By-The-Sea, a barrier island community off Daytona Beach, several beachside homes — or parts of them — crumbled as storm surge tore the coastline and undermined their foundations, CNN affiliates WKMG and WFTV reported Thursday. A day earlier, 22 homes there were evacuated after officials deemed them unsafe, knowing that coastal erosion from Hurricane Ian just weeks earlier made the homes vulnerable.

In Daytona Beach Shores, at least one single-family coastal home partially collapsed, Volusia County officials said Thursday.

And as rough surf picked up a day earlier, the county’s beach safety office collapsed into the water on Wednesday, CNN affiliate WESH reported.

Several factors are contributing to the dangerous situation on the coast. Among them: Nicole’s storm surge, which peaked at around 6 feet Thursday morning, pushed ashore on top of exceptionally high tides associated with this week’s full moon.

Behind all that, sea level in this part of Florida has risen more than a foot in the past 100 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — and most of that rise has occurred in the past three decades.

Scientists and researchers have long warned that sea level rise is leading to more erosion and high-tide flooding — particularly during extreme coastal storms. This is putting even more stress on sea walls, which are meant to protect coastal communities from high waves and water levels.

Read more about what’s behind this.