Hurricane Hilary, which has now weakened into a tropical storm, inundated streets across Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula with massive floods and has now moved over to Southern California.
A report by the Associated Press said the floods swamped roads and brought down trees. Authorities are also concerned that states up north like Idaho could also face flash floods.
However, for California, Hurricane Hilary, now Tropical Storm Hilary, has landed a double blow. The state is in its wildfire season and wildfires have already been reported in northern California’s Siskiyou County. At least 19 blazes are burning up north led by a fire that erupted in the Klamath National Forest due to thunderstorms. While Californian authorities chart a path to tackle wildfires, southern Californian have been drenched.
This is abnormal for California because it is the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years as it is rare for California to witness storms because of its dry air, cool water and wind conditions off the coast which has a tendency to suppress hurricanes, news agency BBC said in a separate report.
The report by Associated Press said California witnessed 15.24 centimetres rain and inland desert areas could receive more than an average year’s worth of rain. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “PLEASE … STAY OFF THE ROADS”.
Hurricane Hilary made landfall along the Mexican coast in a sparsely populated area and then threatened homes and livelihoods in Mexico’s Tijuana, known for its mudslides. It moved over to San Diego on Sunday evening (local time).
Tropical Storm Hilary brought floodwaters in the typically hot and dry Palm Desert. Emergency crews pumped flood waters out of the emergency room at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.
Meteorologists expect that Hilary could bring once-in-a-century rains to several Western states of the US and could be the wettest known tropical cyclone to douse Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. It is expected to enter central Nevada early Monday (local time).
“I urge everyone, everyone in the path of this storm, to take precautions and listen to the guidance of state and local officials,” US President Joe Biden said. California governor Gavin Newsom and Nevada governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in their respective states.
An earthquake also heightened tensions among residents and emergency services when an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 hit near Ojai, about 130 kms northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Aerial footage showed floodwaters inundating the area around the Dodger Stadium, home to the city’s baseball team. At least 25,000 houses are without electricity.
The US second largest school system, the Los Angeles Unified School District, said that all campuses would be closed on Monday. San Diego also postponed classes on Monday.
“There is no way we can compromise the safety of a single child or an employee, and our inability to survey buildings, our inability to determine access to schools makes it nearly impossible for us to open schools,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
In Mexico, beaches were closed in the cities of Ensenada and Tijuana and the government opened shelters at sports complexes and government offices. Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, the mayor of Mulege township, said one person drowned on Saturday in Mexico’s Santa Rosalia. Rescuers saved four other people.
“Fortunately there was not much damage,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, adding that authorities are working to restore electricity and provide help.
The last tropical storm that battered California was in September 1939. It was so strong that it tore houses from their foundations and capsized many boats, leading to at least 100 deaths on land and at sea.
Meteorologists believe that Death Valley, the Californian desert known for being one of the hottest places on Earth during summer, could receive two years’ worth of rainfall due to Hilary. Parts of the Death Valley, specifically the northern side of the Mojave desert, witnessed floods due to Hilary.
