Several fire stations in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties made sandbags available to residents to try to prevent water from damaging homes.
“(We are) scared by the water, let’s see what happens, I hope everything is fine,” said José Ramón Talamantes, a Long Beach resident. Jose, along with dozens of other residents, collected sandbags and groceries to weather one of the worst storms on record to hit Southern California in recent years.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said so far between 47,000 and 50,000 bags of sand have been allocated to protect the coastal community.
“We are experiencing local flooding in Imperial and Riparian Counties, and we are taking precautions to close those roads and establish detours,” the Long Beach mayor added.
“Make sure you are in communication with family and friends, elderly neighbors, and people with functional needs who may need help to escape or stay home,” said Nancy Ward, director of California’s emergency services, who surely there will be blackouts, and he said that they are already in contact with the electricity companies.
The spokesperson for the Red Cross, Miriam Andina, explains what are the precautionary measures that must be taken into account before the arrival of tropical storm Hilary.
“Charge your phones and prepare to lose power,” Los Angeles County officials warned, as they expect damage from powerful winds, flooding, mudslides, and even isolated tornadoes.
At some fire stations there is no more sand, but people can still go to the stations to pick up the bags and fill them with sand elsewhere.
