Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, brought increasingly heavy rain to the region, where some mountain and desert areas received more than half of the year’s average rainfall in just one day. This was the case in the desert resort of Palm Springs, where almost 3 inches of water had fallen by Sunday night.
Meteorologists warned of dangerous flash flooding in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and fire units rescued dozens of people from knee-deep water at a homeless encampment along the flooded San Diego River. Meanwhile, rain and washed-up debris covered some roads and people stranded their cars in standing water. Crews used pumps to remove water from an emergency room at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.
The storm slammed into California after making landfall Sunday on Mexico’s arid Baja California peninsula, in a sparsely populated area about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Ensenada. It then moved through Tijuana, an area prone to mudslides, threatening makeshift homes built in the hills south of the US border.
The storm was expected to weaken on its northerly track over California and into Nevada, although it continued to pose risks. Hurricane specialist Richard Pasch of the National Hurricane Center said the storm could become a “post-tropical cyclone” sometime Monday by losing a well-defined center, but would likely continue to produce “very heavy” rains and strong winds. .
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school system in the United States, said all campuses would be closed Monday, as would districts in the desert. San Diego schools postponed the first day of school from Monday to Tuesday.
“There is no way that we can put the safety of even one child or one employee at risk, and our inability to inspect buildings, our inability to determine access to schools makes it nearly impossible for us to open schools,” the minister said. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at a press conference.
Southern California received another surprise in the afternoon, a preliminary magnitude 5.1 quake struck near Ojai, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, according to the US Geological Survey. It was widely felt and was followed by smaller aftershocks. There were no reports of significant damage or casualties at this time, an operator with the Ventura County Police Department said.
Hillary is the latest weather disaster to hit the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Hawaiian island of Maui continues to recover from a wildfire that killed more than 100 people and ripped through the historic town of Lahaina, becoming the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century. Meanwhile, firefighters in Canada are battling the worst fire season on record in the country.
A person drowned on Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalía as Hilary passed by, when a vehicle was swept away by the flooding of a stream. Rescuers saved four other people, said Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, mayor of the Mulegé municipality.
Soldiers from the Mexican army fanned out through Mulegé, where some of the worst damage occurred on the eastern part of the Baja California peninsula on Saturday. Soldiers used bulldozers and dump trucks to help remove tons of rock and dirt clogging streets and highways, which had turned into raging torrents the day before.
Power lines were down in several places, and emergency personnel were working to restore power and reach people stranded by the storm.
Meanwhile, one of several fledgling storm systems in the Atlantic Ocean became Tropical Storm Emily on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was far from the mainland, moving west into the open sea. In addition, Tropical Storm Franklin formed in the eastern Caribbean. Tropical storm watches have been issued for the southern coasts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
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Lebrija reported from Ensenada, Mexico. Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida; Ignacio Martinez in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Mark Stevenson in Mexico City; Eugene Garcia in San Diego; Ryan Sun and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
