(Washington) Hurricane Nicole reached Florida in the southeastern United States on Thursday before weakening into a tropical storm, raising fears of destruction and the postponement of an important space mission.
Posted at 6:35 a.m.
The hurricane made landfall early in the morning along the state’s Atlantic coast just south of Vero Beach, according to a 3 a.m. bulletin issued by the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The NHC, however, reported an hour later that this Category 1 hurricane – a rare occurrence at this late time of year – had weakened, with the strongest winds increasing from 120 to 110 km/h, and was now classified as tropical storm.
In addition to fears of damage, Nicole caused NASA to consider postponing the highly anticipated rocket launch, which had already been postponed.
The impact of Wednesday’s passage of the hurricane on the Bahamas archipelago was not yet known at the time of its arrival in Florida.
Nicole arrives a few weeks after the hurricane Ianone of the most powerful recorded in the United States, which had caused more than a hundred deaths in Florida.
An alert has been issued for the state’s east coast, stretching from the city of Boca Raton to the border between Flager and Volusia counties, the NHC said.
Four counties have been placed under mandatory evacuation orders, according to Florida Emergency Management Services.
Threats to Artemis 1
State Governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, said 45 of Florida’s 67 counties were in a state of emergency.
He added that 16,000 people had been mobilized to deal with the power cuts, and that 600 National Guard personnel were also placed on alert.
Nicole threatens to affect in particular the Kennedy Space Center, near the city of Orlando, where the hurricane has already forced NASA to postpone the launch of its most powerful rocket ever built, from November 14 to 16.
A possible new date for the Artemis 1 mission has now been scheduled for November 19.
The rocket named SLS is designed to withstand winds of 74.4 knots, or about 137 km/h.
This summer, two take-off attempts were canceled at the last moment due to technical problems, then the 98-meter-high machine had to be returned to its assembly building at the end of September to be protected from Hurricane Ian.
The rocket, whose value is estimated at several billion dollars, has only been back on its launch pad for a few days.
The Artemis 1 test mission, without an astronaut on board, is to mark the very first flight of the major American program back to the Moon.