Over 272,000 customers without power as tropical storm hits U.S. Florida

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- More than 272,000 customers are without power as of Thursday afternoon across the southeasternmost U.S. state of Florida, due to the impact of Tropical Storm Nicole, according to utility tracker Poweroutage.us.

Nicole made landfall along the east coast of Florida just south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday morning and later weakened to a tropical storm.

Florida's emergency management tweeted on Thursday afternoon that tropical storm conditions are still being experienced across much of the state due to Nicole.

"Please don't go out &visit impacted areas," the agency warned. "Not only is it unsafe, but it also inhibits first responders."

Additional weakening is forecast while Nicole moves over land during the next day or two, and the storm is likely to become a tropical depression over Georgia Thursday night or early Friday.