AccuWeather reports: forecasters have rated Nicole a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes due to the dangers of a damaging storm surge, high winds and flooding rainfall. Impacts will also occur for a long duration since hazardous conditions will hammer parts of the state for as much as 48 hours.

Landfall is expected to occur in the Stuart, Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce area of Florida sometime from the middle of Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, depending on if Nicole’s forward speed changes. Just prior to noon EST on Wednesday, Nicole made landfall on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas.

Mandatory evacuation orders were slated to go into effect on Wednesday in parts of Palm Beach and Volusia counties in Florida, according to officials.