Florida county puts damage from Nicole at $522 million

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. (AP) — Damages are estimated at more than $522 million in a central Florida coastal county where homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean following Hurricane Nicole last week. The damages from the category 1 storm in Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, exceeded those from the much stronger Hurricane Ian, which caused $377 million in the county. Hurricane Ian, a category 4 storm, made landfall in southwest Florida in late September and tore across the state. Volusia County officials say severe beach erosion from Ian made homes vulnerable to the impact of Nicole in Wilbur-by-the Sea, a quaint beach community where single-family homes fell into the ocean last week.