(HorizonPost.com) – Tropical Storm Hilary moved over Southern California last weekend, flooding roads and downing trees after inundating Mexico’s dry Baja California Peninsula on Sunday, CBS News reported.
Over the weekend, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency while FEMA announced that its officials were on standby along with the state’s emergency preparedness office.
Hilary was the first tropical storm to make landfall in Southern California in 84 years. The storm dumped over 6 inches of rain in some mountain communities and was forecasted to bring more than a year’s worth of rain to inland desert areas.
The tropical storm made landfall in a sparsely populated area of the Mexican coast last Sunday before moving through Tijuana. By Sunday evening, Hilary was over San Diego before heading north to inland desert areas. The National Weather Service warned of significant flooding northeast of Los Angeles in the populous mountain areas along the coast.
From San Diego to Los Angeles, mudslides spilled onto highways as water flooded roads, leaving dozens of cars trapped in typically dry Palm Desert and other communities in the Coachella Valley. LA Unified School District announced that schools would be closed on Monday while schools in San Diego moved the first day of classes to Tuesday.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency, activating 100 National Guard troops to assist in the event of flooding in Clark and Nye Counties in the west and Esmeralda County in the south. Meanwhile, in Arizona, winds gusted to nearly 60 mph in Yuma County where officials provided thousands of sandbags in case of flooding.
In Mexico, the cities of Tijuana and Ensenada closed beaches and opened shelters at sports complexes and government buildings. On Saturday, one person drowned in Santa Rosalia after a family’s vehicle was swept away by an overflowing stream.
Copyright 2023, HorizonPost.com
