Hilary made landfall on the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday as a tropical storm and has inundated the streets with floodwaters.
Currently, it is moving over to Southern California. As it progresses, the storm is swamping roads, uprooting or making trees fall, and raising concerns regarding flash floods.
According to forecasters, Hilary is the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. The storm that devolved from a Category 4 hurricane is feared to bring flash floods, high winds, isolated tornadoes, and prolonged power outages. As of now, The eye of Hurricane Hilary is on the coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula.
The number of customers without power rose to 40,000 in the LA area on Sunday evening. In Southern California, the number of reported outages is 29,000 and will keep increasing.
Hurricane Hilary made landfall in a sparsely populated area 150 miles south of Ensenada, along the Mexican Coast. It then moved through Tijuana, an area prone to mudslides.
Around 9 million people were under flash-flood watch, and Southern California received heavy rain before the storm entered the area. Highways were overwhelmed with mud and boulders, and drainage systems were led astray. Tree branches, as well as fallen trees, wreaked havoc on properties. Areas in San Diego and Los Angeles were also severely affected.
The LA office of the National Weather Service reported via X that very heavy rain was continuing in most of LA and Ventura counties. As a result, The Los Angeles Unified School District closed all campuses not to compromise the safety of children and employees.
The California State Parks also shut down state beaches from the U.S.-Mexico border to Bolsa Chica. It was a precautionary measure to save as many lives as possible.
On top of the storm, Southern California also received an unannounced guest in the form of an earthquake. Its preliminary magnitude was 5.1, and it hit near Ojai. It was a widely felt earthquake with many aftershocks that followed. There have been no damage reports so far.
The worst of the storm is expected to hit California’s eastern desert communities that are already vulnerable. Some of the worst hit areas would be east of San Diego and Los Angeles, including the Coachella Valley, Imperial Valley, and near Death Valley.
The storm has also put the migrant population in Tijuana in a vulnerable position, as most of the camps and shelters are very basic and cannot withstand heavy rain or storms.
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