While Hurricane Nicole mostly moved south and west of the area, thousands in Columbia and neighboring counties still felt her impact.
More than 1,100 Clay Electric Cooperative members in Columbia County have lost power from the storm, while Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative has more than 1,800 members without electricity in its four-county service area – more than 1,500 in Suwannee County – as of 5 p.m.
In a release, SVEC said its crews and contractors from Musgrove Construction and Lee Construction will continue to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
Those power outages are the worst that was reported to Columbia County's Emergency Management office, according to Director Shayne Morgan.
“I'm not sure the winds got up to what the forecast called for, which is good for us,” Morgan said, adding the tropical storm conditions have begun moving out of the area.
But while the most damaging winds stayed clear, Morgan said Nicole did bring some good to North Florida.
“We're getting some much-needed rain,” he said. “I think as soon as the rain stops, the ground will start gasping for more. It's been so dry.”