Tropical Storm Hilary, which is already bringing strong gusts and flooding to Mexico’s Pacific coast, is expected to make landfall in the US state of California.
Winds of 70 mph (119 km/h) are pelting the Baja California state of Mexico. There, a man lost his life while driving his automobile through a stream.
The town of Santa Rosalia has a lot of homes that are currently underwater.
As it heads north, Hurricane Hilary is expected to weaken and should make landfall in California on Sunday afternoon local time.
It would be the first tropical cyclone to hit the state in 84 years.
In southern California, a tropical storm last touched down in Long Beach in 1939.
According to experts, recent unseasonably warm weather that has affected the US and many other parts of the world has been influenced by human-caused climate change.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that the storm made landfall in the northern Baja California peninsula of Mexico at 11:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday.
It forewarned that Hurricane Hilary might bring on “life-threatening” flooding in the US and Mexico.
18,000 soldiers were already put on alert in Mexico to help in rescue operations.
According to local authorities, the man who died in Baja California was traveling in a car with his wife and children; they all made it out alive.
Powerful streams of muddy water can be seen rushing down the main street of Santa Rosalia, on the eastern coast of Baja California, in stunning films that have surfaced.
Sandbags have been placed by locals all around California, notably in Long Beach and Palm Springs.
“Flooding where people lose some property is one thing, but flooding where people die is another,” Long Beach resident Eugenie Adler told Reuters. And I worry that folks might pass away.
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, described it as “an unprecedented weather event”.
But whether it’s a wildfire or an earthquake, Los Angeles has extensive expertise reacting to catastrophes, she said. The metropolis is ready.
Flood warnings are in effect for around 26 million people in the southwest of the US.
After weakening on Saturday, Hilary was reduced to a Category 1 storm, but authorities continued to issue warnings.
The NHC estimates that tropical storm-force winds can be felt out to 240 miles (390 km) from the center.
One of the worst storms to hit California in more than ten years, according to Nancy Ward, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
She said at a press conference on Saturday, “Make no mistake. This storm is significant and quite dangerous.
Parts of Mexico, California, and Nevada could see rainfall of up to 10 inches (25 cm), according to the NHC. In the southern California deserts, rain started to fall on Sunday.
The Colorado River Valley, Mojave Desert, and Imperial Valley all have a tornado risk from mid-morning until Sunday night.
While SpaceX postponed the launch of a rocket from its facility on the central California coast until at least Monday, Major League Baseball rescheduled three games in southern California as the storm neared.
In order to keep visitors from becoming stuck in the case of floods, the National Park Service also shut down California’s Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve.
North America recently experienced disruption due to extreme weather.
NASA reports that in the wake of July 2023, which set a record for warmth, Hawaii saw the deadliest wildfire in modern US history on 8 August, which claimed the lives of at least 111 people.
Hurricane gusts that were moving across the area increased the damage.
And in Canada, tens of thousands of people are being evacuated as a result of hundreds of wildfires that are blazing in the province of British Columbia and scorching homes.
