Hurricane Nicole Path Update, Tracker as Florida Schools and Airports Close

Schools in Florida are closing as tropical storm Nicole heads for the state's Atlantic coast while nearing hurricane-strength.

Nicole is forecast to become a hurricane near the northwestern Bahamas and expected to make landfall along Florida's east coast as a Category 1 hurricane late on Wednesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph, the centre said on Wednesday, just shy of the 74 mph to become a Category 1 hurricane.

Hurricane warnings have been issued for a large portion of Florida's Atlantic Coast, from Boca Raton to north of Daytona Beach, with tropical-storm warnings in place for other parts of the state's coast.

Hurricane Nicole will produce heavy rainfall across the Florida peninsula, with flash and urban flooding likely, the NHC said.

Forecasters also warned residents living near Florida and Georgia's Atlantic coast to prepare for storm surges.

"Do not focus on the exact track of Nicole since it is expected to be a large storm with hazards extending well to the north of the center, outside of the forecast cone," the center said in a bulletin. "These hazards are likely to affect much of the Florida peninsula and portions of the southeast United States."

Residents in at least three Florida counties were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday from barrier islands, low-lying areas and mobile homes.

Volusia County issued a mandatory evacuation order beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with residents in low-lying areas and living east of the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3,000-mile inland stretch along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, among those ordered to leave their homes.

Palm Beach County ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents of mobile homes, barrier islands and low-lying areas. Emergency shelters will open at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, officials said at a news conference on Tuesday.

School districts in multiple counties across Florida announced closures from Wednesday through Friday, with establishments already going to shut down Friday due to the Veterans Day holiday. They include Brevard County schools and Indian River County schools. Others announced classes would be canceled on Thursday.

The University of Central Florida and Florida Atlantic University will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as Veterans Day.

Meanwhile, officials at Orlando International Airport said commercial operations would stop at 4 p.m. on Wednesday until it is safe to resume flights.

"We will continue to monitor Tropical Storm Nicole to determine the potential impact at MCO [the code for Orlando International Airport]," staff wrote on Twitter. "We ask you to please continue to work with your airline directly in regards to your specific flight."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday declared a state of emergency for 34 counties in the potential path of the storm.

Many of those areas are still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida's southwestern coast as a Category 4 storm on September 28.