Tropical Storm Hillary made landfall on the Baja Peninsula on Sunday, a rare Pacific storm that will bring heavy rain and strong winds to northern Mexico, southern California and the southwestern United States, causing damage that could exceed $2 billion.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard and state workers, as the National Weather Service warned that excessive rainfall could trigger mudslides and flash floods and bring down trees and power lines. The storm was downgraded from a hurricane early Sunday, triggering California’s first-ever tropical storm warning.
It is raining in parts of Baja California, Mexico and Southern California, with the storm expected to hit later in the day and overnight. One person drowned after a car was swept away by floodwaters in Mexico, the Associated Press reported. reportthere has been some flooding along the Baja Peninsula.
Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research, said in a blog post that while the region will experience some wind damage, the worst impact will be flooding, which could cost the U.S. $1 billion to $2 billion. dollar loss.
“Rain is clearly the most important thing,” said commercial forecaster meteorologist Bill Deger. AccuWeather Inc. While rainfall could range from 4 inches in Los Angeles and San Diego to 20 inches in parts of Mexico, “it’s certainly enough to cause life-threatening flooding.”
California braces for ‘catastrophic’ flooding from hurricane
Forecasters say Hillary could bring a year’s worth of rainfall to some areas in one day, possibly even breaking records in some areas. a burst of bad weather all around the world. Flooding has been the leading cause of death in U.S. tropical systems over the past decade.
At a news conference on Sunday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency and urged residents to “stay safe, stay home and stay informed.”
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors President Janice Hahn warned residents that heavy rain could knock out power lines or push trees onto roads or other structures. She urged local shops to close and businesses to let employees work from home on Monday so they didn’t have to travel, and advised people not to go to the beach to watch the storm.
“At this point, if you haven’t left where you are, stay where you are,” she told 97.1 KNX News.
San Diego closes beaches and issues similar warningurging people to stay off the road and take other precautions.
To follow the latest path of Hurricane Hillary, click here.
Hundreds of flights have been canceled in and around the U.S., with the vast majority departing from or arriving at West Coast airports such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego, according to Airline Tracking Service FlightAware. The MetroLink commuter rail around Los Angeles reduced service Sunday, as did coaster service in San Diego.
Some roads in Southern California were also closed. Hillary will weaken in strength and likely remain a tropical storm as it moves north later Sunday, Deger said.
Regardless of its state, it can still rain heavily, especially in the mountains.Flood watches and warnings extend from California to Idaho National Weather Service explain. By Tuesday, the worst should have passed.
In addition to Hillary, Tropical Storm Emily formed in the Atlantic along with an unnamed tropical depression, the Hurricane Center said. Neither storm currently poses a threat to land, but they suggest the Atlantic is entering its most active time of year.
— With assistance from Sarah McGregor
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