Florida Exchanges Prepare as Tropical Storm Nicole Expected to Become Hurricane

For the second time this fall, Florida Exchange stores appear to be in the path of a hurricane. Tropical Storm Nicole was expected to develop into a hurricane and make landfall Wednesday or early Thursday on Florida’s east coast.

If the storm strengthens to a hurricane, it would be the first time in 40 years that a hurricane made landfall in November in Florida. About 11 a.m. Eastern Time, the National Hurricane Center tweeted a video reporting that tropical-storm force winds and storm surge were already affecting the Florida coast. Heavy winds and rains are a concern for most of the state.

About 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Space Launch Delta 45, which is headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base announced on its Facebook page that the base had entered HURCON 2, meaning that surface winds in excess of 58 mph could arrive in the Patrick SFB/Cape Canaveral SFB area within 24 hours.

Space Launch Delta 45 was not recommending evacuation, the Facebook message said, adding that a mandatory evacuation of the base was unlikely. Local commands at both Patrick SFB and Cape Canaveral issued an early dismissal at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday, and both installations will remain closed on Thursday. The Patrick Exchange closed at 1 p.m. and is expected to reopen Friday.

Initially, Nicole was expected to only affect Patrick, but local commands became concerned that the storm would bring stronger wind speeds. Nicholas Nguyen, general manager of several Florida stores, said about noon ET that all installations in his area of responsibility had declared HURCON 2. Only mission-essential personnel would be allowed on the bases Wednesday afternoon and all of Thursday.

Nguyen detailed how stores besides Patrick would be affected:

MacDill Air Force Base:  Exchange facilities will maintain normal operations Wednesday, and delayed Thursday opening until 10 a.m.

Cape Canaveral: Exchange facilities will close Wednesday and Thursday.

The Shades of Green store at Walt Disney World will operate as normal. The Exchange ride-out Team will stay at the hotel Wednesday night.

Homestead & SOUTHCOM: Exchange facilities closed at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, and will remain closed all day Thursday.

Tony Pares, East Region Vice President, said that all sites are in contact with the Fuel team and other HQ directorates and that all fuel levels were good and all merchandise was in stock.

“The storm came up so quick that we didn’t get any emergency orders,” Tony Pares, East Region Vice President, said Wednesday morning. “We still have plenty in stock from the last storm.”

In late September, the Patrick Exchange sustained minor damage from Hurricane Ian, which affected several stores in the South East region.