Tropical Storm Hilary lashed out at Southern California, causing severe rainfall from the coast to the desert resort city of Palm Springs and the inland mountains. The storm’s aftermath saw several people being rescued from swollen rivers.
Early on Monday, remnants of Hilary, which initially brought rains to Mexico’s arid Baja California peninsula and Tijuana, posed a flood threat to Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho.
In Southern California, residents grappled with flooded roads, mudslides, and fallen trees. A three-story-tall tree fell on vehicles but thankfully missed a family’s house in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles.
Hilary is the latest in a series of major weather or climate disasters to impact the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Meanwhile, Southern California experienced an earthquake of preliminary magnitude 5.1 near Ojai, 80 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Although widely felt, it did not cause any significant damage or injuries.
Hilary first made landfall in a sparsely populated area of Baja California, resulting in one drowning before moving through Tijuana. It was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, dropping more than half an average year’s worth of rain on areas such as Palm Springs.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami has downgraded Hilary to a post-tropical storm, but warns of continued catastrophic flooding risks over portions of the southwestern U.S. on Monday.
As California started to see clearer skies on Monday, the National Weather Service warned of ongoing flooding west of Las Vegas and forecast record-breaking precipitation for Monday morning in southeastern Oregon and west-central Idaho.
These events highlight the increasing frequency and intensity of weather and climate disasters. They underline the urgent need for comprehensive and resilient disaster management strategies to protect communities and infrastructure.