Jan Wesner Childs
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As Hurricane Nicole bore down on Florida Wednesday, Nathan Colian watched waves overcome a protective barrier on the beach in front of the Daytona Towers condominium where he lives on the state's Atlantic Coast.
Colian knew he had to leave. He survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when he lived in Biloxi, Mississippi.
And while Nicole was nothing like that storm, it brought Colian's Katrina experience flooding back.
“I thought about that and that it'd be devastating to have that happen twice in your life, where you just go back to literally nothing. That thought crossed my mind," Colian told weather.com in a phone call Thursday.
(MORE: Drone Video Shows Collapsed Homes On Florida's East Coast)
He lost all his possessions in Katrina, and eight years ago moved to Daytona Beach. Family lives in the area and he had evacuated there during Katrina.
Wednesday, Colian retreated to a hotel inland while Nicole battered the beaches overnight.
"In the middle of the night you’re looking at the updates, you’re looking at what’s going on," he said. “As the night wore on there was anxiety and it brought me actually back to Katrina.”
The pool at Daytona Towers condominium collapsed after severe erosion, one of many damaged by hurricanes Ian and Nicole in Florida.For awhile after that storm wiped out much of Biloxi, Colian spent time on a friend's couch. He said he was just one of many people in the same situation, all banded together in the face of complete devastation.
The condo 43-year-old Colian now calls home was one of many damaged by Hurricane Ian in September and then further eroded by heavy surf from Nicole. Dozens have either collapsed or are in danger of doing so, according to Volusia County Emergency Management.
(MORE: Seven Things Florida Newcomers Should Know About Hurricane Season)
Colian's isn't on that list, but he wasn't sure what he'd come back to after Nicole passed.
“Ian weakened everything and then Nicole came in and just cleared everything out," Colian said.
Overnight and during Thursday morning's high tide, more of the shoreline was eroded in front of Daytona Towers. The pool collapsed further. The parking garage flooded. And the protective barrier - a temporary fix after Ian - was completely gone.
Colian's glad he and his neighbors are safe, but notes the damage nearby and for miles up the coast is extensive. Jetties and piers are broken, portions of beachside highway washed away and homes completely gone.
“I’m relieved," he said. "Relieved and sad because the area is forever changed, the whole coastline.”
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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