facebook
Jan 21, 2025
Breaking News

Tropical Storm Hilary deluge hits California after striking Mexico


Tropical Storm Hilary deluge hits California after striking Mexico


SAN DIEGO (AP)-- Deadly floodwaters flooded streets throughout Mexico's arid Baja California on Sunday as Tropical Storm Hilary moved ashore bring torrential rain into Southern California, and issues installed that flash floods might strike in locations as far north as Idaho that seldom get such heavy rain.

Forecasters said Hilary was the first hurricane to strike Southern California in 84 years, bringing the potential for flash floods, mudslides, isolated twisters, high winds and power outages.

Hilary made landfall along the Mexican coast in a sparsely populated location about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Ensenada, on a course to hit mudslide-prone Tijuana Sunday evening, threatening the improvised homes that hold on to hillsides just south of the U.S. border.

At least 9 million individuals were under flash-flood warnings as heavy rain fell across normally sunny Southern California ahead of the impact of the storm. Tropical Storm Hilary swirled northward Sunday simply off the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, no longer a cyclone however still bring so much rain that forecasters stated "deadly and disastrous" flooding is most likely throughout a broad region of the southwestern U.S. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes).

Mud spilled onto highways, water overloaded drain systems and tree branches fell in places from San Diego to Los Angeles. The weather service stated twisters were possible Sunday afternoon in eastern San Diego County.

Southern California got another surprise in the afternoon as an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 hit near Ojai, about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was felt commonly and was followed by smaller sized aftershocks. There were no instant reports of major damage or injury, according to a dispatcher with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Hilary might wallop other Western states with once-in-a-century rains, with a likelihood of it becoming the wettest recognized cyclone to douse Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. Hilary was anticipated to remain a tropical storm into main Nevada early Monday prior to dissipating.

By 2 p.m. California time, Hilary was 115 miles south-southeast of San Diego, the National Hurricane Center reported. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and was moving northwest at nearly 25 miles per hour.

Typhoon Center Director Michael Brennan said that while Hilary had weakened from a Category 4 typhoon, it's the water, not the wind, that people must keep an eye out for many-- some areas could get as much rain in hours that they usually get in a year.

" You do not want to be out driving around, trying to cross flooded roads on car or on foot," Brennan said during a briefing from Miami. "Rainfall flooding has actually been the most significant killer in hurricanes and hurricanes in the United States in the previous 10 years, and you do not want to end up being a fact.".

Hilary is just the latest major environment disaster to create chaos across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Hawaii's island of Maui is still reeling from a blaze that eliminated over 100 individuals and ravaged the historical town of Lahaina, making it the most dangerous U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Firefighters in Canada are battling that country's worst fire season on record.

The Mexican cities of Ensenada and Tijuana closed all beaches and opened a half-dozen shelters at sports complexes and government workplaces.

A car drives through a flooded highway entryway in Palmdale, Calif. as a tropical storm moves into the area on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. Forecasters said Tropical Storm Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, bringing the potential for flash floods, mudslides, separated twisters, high winds and power failures. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel).

A single person drowned Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia when a car was swept away in an overflowing stream. Rescue workers saved four other people, said Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, the mayor of Mulege municipality.

Mexican army troops fanned out throughout Mulege, where some of the worst damage occurred Saturday on the eastern side of the Baja Peninsula. Soldiers utilized bulldozers and discard trucks to assist clear tons of stones and earth blocking streets and roadways that were become raging torrents a day previously.

What are the odds? Regional twins born on parents birthdays.

Power lines were toppled in many places, and emergency workers were working to restore power and reach those cut off by the storm.

Brennan said rains could reach in between 3 and 6 inches in numerous locations. Forecasters warned it could dispose approximately 10 inches-- a year's worth of rain-- in some isolated locations.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated a state of emergency situation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has officials inside California's emergency situation readiness workplace and teams on standby with food, water and other help.

In seaside Carlsbad, simply north of San Diego, 19-year-old Jack Johnson and his good friends kept an eye on the waves, identified to browse them at some point Sunday.

" It's really choppy out there, not truly surfable yet, however I think we can discover an excellent break somewhere later on," Johnson stated. "I can't keep in mind a storm like this.".

San Diego schools delayed the first day of classes from Monday to Tuesday.

Authorities provided evacuation cautions Saturday for Santa Catalina Island, advising homeowners and beachgoers to decamp for the mainland, and for several mountain and foothill neighborhoods in San Bernardino County. Orange County sent out an alert for anyone living in a wildfire burn scar in the Santa Ana Mountains' Silverado and Williams canyons.

Los Angeles authorities scrambled to get homeless people off the streets and into shelters, and authorities bought all state beaches in San Diego and Orange counties closed.

Throughout the region, municipalities lacked totally free sandbags and grocery racks cleared as individuals stockpiled products. California's Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve were closed.

To the north in Nevada, Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency and triggered 100 National Guard soldiers to assist with problems from forecasted flooding in western Clark and Nye counties and southern Esmeralda County. In Arizona, wind gusts neared 60 miles per hour (97 kph) in Yuma County, where authorities offered thousands of sandbags.

" I urge everybody, everyone in the path of this storm, to listen and take preventative measures to the assistance of state and regional authorities," President Joe Biden stated.

One of a number of budding storm systems in the Atlantic Ocean ended up being Tropical Storm Emily on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane. Tropical storm watches were provided for the southern coasts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In Sept. 1939, a hurricane that roared into California ripped apart train tracks, tore houses from their structures and capsized many boats, killing almost 100 people on land and at sea.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Source Credit

Elwood Hill
author

Elwood Hill

Elwood Hill is an award-winning journalist with more than 18 years' of experience in the industry. Throughout his career, John has worked on a variety of different stories and assignments including national politics, local sports, and international business news. Elwood graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and immediately began working for Breaking Now News as lead journalist.

you may also like