Storm Nicole batters Florida

TROPICAL Storm Nicole hit Florida as a hurricane, washing away the remaining protections for a stretch of beachfront properties that lost their seawall during Hurricane Ian only weeks before.

In Daytona Beach Shores, surging ocean water threatened the foundations of at least a dozen high-rise flats and houses.

Nicole remains a sprawling tropical storm, covering nearly the entire weather-weary state of Florida early on Thursday while also reaching into Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama.