US weather experts warn that although Hurricane Hilary has weakened as it approaches the Pacific coast of Mexico and California, floods could still be “life-threatening” at this point.
Its wind speed has been reduced to 85 mph (140 km/h), making it a Category 1 storm.
Overnight, the southwest US and Mexico’s Baja California peninsula had intense rain.
An official said that a guy died in Baja California after being carried away while attempting to cross a torrent.
According to local media, the dad was traveling in a car with his three daughters, ages 7, 15, and 22, as well as a girlfriend. All four people survived.
Before it reaches southern California, Hurricane Hilary is predicted to weaken even further to a tropical storm. In more than 80 years, it would be the first tropical storm to make landfall in the US state.
The US National Hurricane Center’s most recent update stated that the hurricane was approximately 90 miles (145 km) away.
On Sunday morning, Hilary’s center would “move close to the west-central coast of the Baja California Island” before moving over southern California on Sunday afternoon, according to the NHC.
According to John Cangialosi, a senior storm expert at the NHC, “Hilary appears to be weakening quickly,” the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
“The eye is filling, and the cloud tops in the eyewall and rainbands have been warming during the past several hours,” he continues.
Earlier, Hilary was a strong Category 3 storm with gusts of up to 130 mph.
According to the NHC, rainfall in certain parts of southern California and southern Nevada might approach 10 inches (25 cm). “Dangerous to disastrous flooding is expected,” the statement continues.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has previously warned of the “high potential” for flash floods in San Diego, California. Flood watch was in effect for around 26 million people in the southwest of the US.
US President Joe Biden stated on Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had “pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the region”.
He urged “everyone in the storm’s path to exercise caution and pay attention to the advice of state and local officials.”
A tropical storm watch is in effect for parts of Mexico, and the government of that country has put 18,000 soldiers on alert to help with rescue operations.
Major League Baseball delayed three games in southern California as the storm closed in, while Musk delayed the launch of a rocket from its facility on the central California coast until at least Monday.
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 Desert National Preserve.
- Homes in Canada are consumed by flames as the removal process moves more quickly.
Sandbags are being provided by local authorities to homeowners in Arizona and other cities in the area who want to protect their homes from anticipated floodwaters.
Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally hit Mexico. However, Long Beach in 1939 saw the last occasion a tropical cyclone touched down in southern California.
Experts assert that human-caused climate change is having an impact on the unusual weather phenomena affecting the US and many other regions of the world.
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.
