Tropical Storm Hilary moved toward the Mexican Baja coast and hit there on Sunday. The storm was no longer a hurricane, but meteorologists still consider it life-threatening and is expected to cause flooding across the western United States.
As the storm Hilary was located about 350 kilometers southwest of San Diego, the National Hurricane Center reported that it had reached a maximum wind speed of 110 kilometers per hour near the coast in the Pacific Ocean.
The Mexican cities of Ensenada and Tijuan had previously closed all beaches and opened some shelters in sports complexes and government offices.
Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said that although Hilary had weakened to a Category 4 hurricane, people should be wary of more water damage.
“Flooding from rainfall has caused the most deaths during tropical storms and hurricanes in the United States over the last 10 years, and you don’t want to become a statistic,” Mr. Brennan said during a briefing from Miami.
Meteorologists believe Hilary will go down in history as the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in nearly 84 years, bringing flooding, landslides, tornadoes, high winds and power outages.
Flood and tropical storm warnings were issued across Southern California, from the Pacific coast and into the mountainous and desert interior, even as far north as Oregon and Idaho. Hilary was expected to continue at tropical storm strength into Central Nevada into the early hours of Monday, when it is also expected to begin to calm down.
California itself is already under a state of emergency and supplies of food, drinking water and other aid have been prepared. Evacuation orders have been issued for residents and beachgoers on Santa Catalina Island, as well as several mountain communities in San Bernardino County. Authorities in the city of Los Angeles tried to pull the homeless inside shelters, and all beaches in San Diego and Orange County were closed.
“I urge everyone in the path of this storm to take action and listen to the instructions of state and local officials,” said President Biden.
Meanwhile, another storm in the Atlantic Ocean was named Tropical Storm Emily on Sunday, as it continues to be away from land and moves westward in the ocean.
