Preparations Underway in South Florida Ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole

With Tropical Storm Nicole brewing, South Florida is keeping a close eye on its every move.

Miami-Dade County will lockdown all drawbridges on the Miami River and the Intercostal Waterway starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday in advance of any tropical storm-force winds over 39 miles per hour.

The South Florida Water Management District has started lowering the water in canals in preparation.

“We are in that process as we speak because it’s important to do that ahead of the storm," said Randy Smith, spokesperson for South Florida Water Management District. "You don’t have time if the storm is on top of you.”

At a press conference Tuesday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava gave updates on storm preparations ahead of Nicole and provided tips to residents as to how they can ensure they are storm ready.

"Our county teams are already getting prepared to respond to any additional surge or rainfall," Levine Cava said. "We urge all of our residents to be vigilant and exercise a high level of caution should our community face inclement weather, rain or flooding or wind."

The U.S. Coast Guard, in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation and Miami-Dade County's Department of Transportation and Public Works has locked down Miami drawbridges since 10 a.m. Tuesday. This will mainly affect marine traffic, but not pedestrians, cyclists or drivers using the bridges.

The mayor said they anticipate that the bridges will remain locked down for the duration of Nicole's severe weather and will not reopen until officials can assess drawbridges and waterways for any potential damage from the storm.

Seasonal King Tides are frequent this time of year, especially in coastal areas like Fort Lauderdale.

Managing water levels can be a tricky system when preparing for possible storm surge.

“Any high tide requires us to close these big gates that we have on the canals in the coast and that is because a high tide would push salt water back into our system, so when it’s high tide with the exception of mechanical pump stations that we use to override gravity, it does kind of slow us down in the relief effort," Smith said. "Once that’s passed, we open the gates again and it’s full force with the discharge of fresh water out."

The last major November storm in South Florida was Eta in 2020, which brought heavy rain and flooding to parts of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

NBC 6 Hurricane Specialist, John Morales, broke down how rare these late storms can be.

“Since 1851, we’ve only had nine tropical systems hit the state of Florida in November. That means that in any year, there’s only a five percent chance that we can get a tropical storm or a hurricane," Morales said. "A hurricane is exceedingly rare because we’ve only had one in 170 plus years. That was the so-called Yankee hurricane of 1935 which hit near where Bal Harbour is now in the northern section of Miami Beach. One in 171 years. It’s pretty rare."

With Nicole, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue is starting its preparations as a precaution.

“For the beach, the lifeguards, we start to secure the lifeguard stands. We remove our assets off the beach and put them in secure locations. Same with our firehouses. We make sure that additional equipment is in place and we start to look at the possibility of needing additional staffing and make sure we’re ready to respond to whatever the emergency might be,” said Stephen Gollan, Battalion Chief with the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.

At a press conference Tuesday, Broward Mayor Michael Udine gave updates about preparations in the county ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole.

"While we are encouraged by the current forecast and the latest shift north at this time, we will not be issuing any evacuation orders," Udine said. "The Coast Guard has issued an order for bridges in Broward County that began the lockdown position at 10 AM on the north and south borders of Broward County, gradually moving their way to central Broward. Lockdowns are expected to occur in the downtown Fort Lauderdale area by 3 p.m."

The Broward County Emergency Operations Center is at level two partial activation as of 8 AM and Broward County agencies have been engaged in preparing infrastructure, alerting staff, and aligning resources for a potential escalation if necessary.

At this time the county government is expected to maintain operations as normal as possible on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Broward County Transit, paratransit and community shuttles will run on a normal schedule unless the county sustains and experiences tropical storm force winds.

Udine said Broward County's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is fully operational but if residents are flying, they are encouraged to check departure status with their airline directly as of 8 a.m.

Broward County public works crews have been ensuring roadways are clear of debris that could block storm drains. They are also lowering canal and lake levels to deal with anticipated rainfall.

Udine also encouraged residents to be prepared for emergencies year-round.