VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County officials have declared a total of 49 beachfront buildings unsafe due to Nicole's storm surge and wind.


What You Need To Know

  • 24 hotels and condos have been deemed unsafe

  • Residents are being urged to stay away from the beach

Twenty-four hotels and condos have been deemed unsafe, while 25 single-family homes were declared structurally unsafe in Wilbur-by-the-Sea. Residents are being urged to stay away from the beach at this time due to the amount of debris in the water.

“This is devastating,” explained Arlisa Payne a Wilbur-by-the-Sea resident.

After working all day, Payne along with her family went to their home along the coast to look at the damage caused by Hurricane Nicole.

“Been here all of my life mostly and I’ve never seen anything like this,” added Payne.

Despite being surrounded by catastrophic damage, she remains optimistic because she is thankful, she still has a home when many don’t.

However, she is concerned about her seawall as many around her, including those just a few hundred feet away go down. It is something she plans on getting checked out.

“When everyone around you is collapsing it is very concerning,” said Payne.

She thinks the landscape in the area has changed ever since Ian rolled through.

“We haven't been able to be down there since Ian. The tide has been so high and rough,” explained the mother of four.

Payne thinks it is hard for people to prepare for these types of storms where the strength of the storm doesn’t exactly align with the damage it can cause.

“I think this caught a lot of people off guard. How do you prepare for this, people can’t prepare for it,” added Payne.

Payne said many of her neighbor's homes that were not impacted by Ian were damaged by Nicole which was a weaker system.