Hurricane Hilary was downgraded to Category 1 on a scale of 5 on Saturday in the Baja California peninsula of northwestern Mexico and is heading toward the southwestern United States, where potentially dangerous flooding is imminent.
• Also read: Hurricane Hilary, downgraded to Category 2, is heading towards the United States
• Also read: Hurricane Hilary is heading for the Pacific coast of Mexico
According to the States National Hurricane Center (NHC), despite gusts of up to 150 km/h, Hilary weakened significantly and was 280 km from Punta Eugenia, a city in the heart of the Baja California peninsula. -United States.
The eye of the hurricane will move “closer to shore in the west-central peninsula of Baja California” Saturday through Sunday night, the NHC said, and then “move over southern California Sunday afternoon.”
Hilary is expected to continue weakening and become a tropical storm before reaching southern California and southern Nevada, with heavy rain and flooding likely.
Residents and staff at the Mexican tourist resort of Los Cabos began protecting homes and businesses with signs and thousands of sandbags as huge waves smashed the shore.
Military patrols patrol the city beach, a popular destination for Mexican and foreign tourists.
“We took all necessary measures last night, now we’re taking care of the workers and making sure everyone is okay while we wait for the hurricane to hit,” Omar Olvera, 34, told AFP on the beach on Saturday.
“From Dangerous to Catastrophic”
The streets of the western coast town of Todos Santos were largely deserted on Saturday, while nearby Cerritos beach was closed due to rough sea weather.
It’s the first hurricane of the season to make landfall on the Pacific side.
The Mexican Navy reported “minor damage to people and infrastructure,” including falling trees, flooding and minor damage to some roads in Baja California.
For its part, the government of the state of Baja California, in which the city of Tijuana is located, has opened shelters.
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According to the Mexican Weather Service, heavy rains and lightning strikes are expected, which could lead to flooding in large parts of the country.
They called on the population to be careful because of the risk of strong waves and floods.
The Mexican government has deployed nearly 19,000 troops to states hardest hit by the storm, while the state-owned electric utility dispatched 800 employees and hundreds of vehicles to respond to possible outages.
“Floods, ranging from dangerous to catastrophic, are expected in the United States,” the NHC warned.
Hilary could be one of the worst storms to hit the state in more than a decade, according to Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
“It’s a very, very dangerous and severe storm,” she said at a press conference on Saturday.
“Absolute Priority”
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed teams to vulnerable areas, while California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency across much of the southern portion of the state.
US President Joe Biden, who was vacationing with his family in a rental home on Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border, was briefed on Saturday about preparations for the storm, the White House said.
Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden plan to travel to Hawaii Monday to survey wildfire damage where excavation work is continuing.
AFP
In San Diego, the US Navy said ships and submarines would put to sea before the storm made landfall.
“Safety remains our top priority, and using every ship possible at sea will help us deal with the situation on land,” U.S. Third Fleet commander Michael Boyle said in a press release.
Hurricanes hit Mexico’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts each year, and occasionally California. However, it is rare for hurricanes to strike with tropical storm intensity.
Storms are getting stronger as the world warms from climate change, scientists say.