Some Florida homeowners allowed to return to properties after Hurricane Nicole

Residents in seven buildings in Daytona Beach Shores returned to their properties after the city deemed them unsafe.

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. - Residents in seven buildings in Daytona Beach Shores returned to their properties after the city deemed them unsafe.

The City of Daytona Beach Shores had engineers check the properties for structural damage. Twenty-three total properties were deemed unsafe after Hurricane Nicole, meaning 16 properties are still closed.

Sandy and Jim Crandall live at the Castaway Beach Resort. Sandy is on the board of directors for the building. She tells FOX35 the board has been working around the clock to get residents back inside.

MORE HEADLINES:

"We had to talk to city inspectors, engineers, we got a sea wall quote you know we're supposed to get that tomorrow," she said.

David Allen also lives in the building. The retiree said he evacuated not knowing if he’d have a home to return to.

"I came back and went upstairs. My place looked just like it did when I left, so I was fortunate," he said.

The city said engineers are working diligently to check the 16 remaining properties.

Damages from Hurricane Nicole in Volusia County alone are now estimated at more than $522 million where homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean. The damages from the Category 1 storm in Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, exceeded those from the much stronger Hurricane Ian, which caused $377 million in the county, officials said.

Moody’s Investors Service estimated insured losses from Ian at between $40 billion and $70 billion in Florida and North Carolina. There were 137 deaths attributed to Ian, a state medical examiners board reported Monday.

For storm-weary Floridians, Nicole was the first November hurricane to hit their shores since 1985 and only the third since record-keeping began in 1853.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.