Tropical Storm Hilary has caused a trail of damage and debris
State of Emergency in California Following a Tropical Cyclone Overpassing the Baja California Peninsula, During the Last Days of Hurricane Typhoia
Hilary strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane over the Pacific before becoming a tropical storm and then barreling into the US after making a landfall in Mexico.
Hilary, which was downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday, has been barreling through Mexico near the Baja California peninsula. Santa Rosalia, a Mexican town, had at least one person drown during the storm. The Baja California coast is still under threat of flash floods even though Mexico’s Hurricanewatch has ended.
The storm was about 220 miles south-southwest of San Diego and traveling at 25 miles per hour. It is expected to sweep across southern California by the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
California is notoriously dry this time of year. Yet, over the course of a single day this weekend, some desert areas were hit with more than a year’s worth of rainfall.
The other thing to keep in mind is that places unaccustomed to tropical storms are usually less prepared when they do arrive. If there is not enough preparation a storm that hits California might be weaker than one that rolls through the Gulf Coast. If there aren’t proper building codes or if there’s been a lot of development in flood-prone areas, for example, then risks could be greater.
On Saturday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for several counties, including Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Tulare, Orange and Ventura. Some of those communities, like parts of San Bernardino County, have already received evacuation orders.
The Cal Fire and California National Guard are on stand-by in case of a flood. State officials also urged residents to sign up for flood and evacuation alerts from their counties, as well as prepare their pets and family in case they need to evacuate.
Early Monday, officials reclassified the storm as a post-tropical cyclone. The center of the storm is going to travel through Nevada today. The officials in Las Vegas stated that the wind gusts were at least 75 miles per hour. There will be flash flood warnings in effect until Thursday morning.
The effect of storms on a community depends on the capacity to protect themselves, according to a researcher at the John Hopkins School of Engineering.
The Sierra Leone earthquake of April 8, 2011 caused by a large tropical storm and its impact on power grids in Del Norte County, California
“The ocean temperatures off the coast of Baja California are much warmer than usual right now,” Swain says. “As much as 3 to 6 Fahrenheit — that’s a pretty significant increment of additional hurricane fuel.”
Forty percent of the world’s oceans are experiencing heat waves right now, according to federal researchers, in part due to a natural climate pattern called El Nino and human-caused climate change.
The ocean is a lot warmer than usual this summer, and hurricanes form over hotter water, making them more powerful.
We haven’t reached the peak of the season, which is expected to be an above-average one. In a midseason forecast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 14 to 21 named storms and six to 11 hurricanes, both predictions up substantially from the original season forecast released in May.
Tropical Storm Franklin is currently in the Caribbean Sea and is expected to bring heavy rains and high winds to Puerto Rico throughout the week. Two other storms — Emily and Gert — are moving through the open Atlantic and don’t appear poised to make landfall.
The earthquake’s epicenter was registered along the Sisar fault in Ojai, which is located between Santa Barbara and Ventura, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and Los Angeles Fire Department both reported no immediate damage or injuries.
Just as the usual summer storm made landfall in Southern California, a large earthquake struck the area. The term “hurri earthquake” became popular on social media.
But in a sign of the state’s colliding natural disasters, over 12,000 of those outages were coming from Del Norte County in the northwest corner of the state, an area where the storm’s impact was minimal. The power lines had been shut off for a much more familiar reason: to minimize the impact of an approaching wildfire, local news outlets reported.
The Los Angeles Unified school district decided to close all campuses and cancel after-school programs because of concerns over transportation safety in the high winds.
In Palm Springs, a news release urged residents to call nonemergency lines or text the 911 number to reach the nearest fire or police station. The city declared a local emergency on Sunday after flooding washed out roads and closed the area’s major freeway, the I-10, in both directions.
An estimated 75,000 LA County residents don’t have access to a permanent home or shelter, and advocates say they remain at an exponentially higher risk of being injured or killed by floodwaters, falling debris and hypothermia.
Dozens of people had to be rescued from a mobile home park in Indio and from a homeless camp along the San Diego River.
The Los Angeles Valley Rainfalls During the First Tropical Tropical Storm in Nearby Areas, Breaking All Rainfall Daily Record by 3.48 inches
“It seems like the public largely heard the message to prepare ahead of time and stay home, which helped a lot,” LAist reporter Erin Stone told Morning Edition on Monday. “That old adage, ‘best safe than sorry’ seems to have been the wisdom of the weekend.”
officials are now forecasting that the storm will travel north through Nevada and pose a higher risk of flooding. The damage appears to have been less than feared at this time.
The National Weather Service Los Angeles said at 3 a.m. local time that the storm had broken “virtually all rainfall daily records.” A record rainfall of 2.48 inches was set in downtown Los Angeles, breaking the previous record of 0.03 set in 1906.
Several cities reported that there was a decrease in emergency services during the storms in the valley. Palm Springs recorded over 3 inches of rain on Sunday.
The first tropical storm to hit the region in nine decades dropped as much as 7 inches of rainwater in some mountain regions and up to 4 inches in lower lying areas.
Flash flood watches in Los Angeles County and the closure of a portion of I- 10 west of Joshua national park closed due to debris and flooding
The message remains the same. Stay safe. Stay up-to-date. Stay home,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at a Sunday news conference ahead of the rain’s peak. She said she’d spoken with Vice President Kamala Harris, who offered federal support.
Flash flood watches in Los Angeles County remained in effect until 3 a.m. Monday PDT. The flash flood warning for Inyo and San Bernardino Counties was extended until 5 a.m.
The California Department of transportation said that the part of I- 10 that goes through the valley west of Joshua national park was closed because of debris and flooding.
