Nicole, newly classified as a hurricane, was packing sustained winds of up 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) as it made landfall on Grand Bahama Island, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. Grand Bahama, Bimini and the Berry Islands in the northwest corner of the island nation remained under a hurricane warning. As the storm closed in earlier in the day, some Bahamas residents fled their homes amid fierce winds and flooding. Storm surge caused widespread devastation to Florida's Gulf Coast when the last major storm, Hurricane Ian, crashed ashore there on Sept. 28, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage and claiming more than 140 lives. Several counties along the Florida coast issued mandatory orders and voluntary evacuation advisories for homes near the shore and on barrier islands.

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