Hurricane Hilary, downgraded to Category 1 on a scale of 5 on Saturday, began sweeping across northwest Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Sunday, killing at least one person.
It must then continue toward the southwestern United States, where potentially dangerous flooding can occur.
According to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hilary weakened significantly on Sunday morning despite wind gusts of up to 140 km/h and was approaching Baja California.
Hilary is expected to continue weakening and become a tropical storm before reaching southern California and southern Nevada, with torrential rain and flooding likely, “catastrophic and life-threatening,” the agency’s report said.
One person has died in Mexico after their vehicle was swept away by a sudden surge in water, Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency said, warning of possible landslides and blocked roads in Baja California.
Hilary is expected to continue moving north on Sunday, bringing up to 25 inches of rain locally in parts of Mexico, California and Nevada.
Tornadoes can also develop in parts of Colorado or the Mojave Desert on Sunday afternoon.
Despite her weakening, Hilary remains dangerous. The US Federal Emergency Response Agency has deployed its teams to areas Hilary must travel through, and California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency across much of the southern region.
AFP
Residents and staff at Mexico’s tourist resort of Los Cabos began protecting homes and businesses with signs and thousands of sandbags on Saturday as huge waves pounded the shore.
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.
“Last night we felt the wind picking up but it wasn’t as strong as we expected. However, we remain concerned,” said Marco Segura, a 57-year-old Los Cerritos resident.
AFP
It’s the first hurricane of the season to make landfall on the Pacific side.
For its part, the government of the state of Baja California, in which the city of Tijuana is located, has opened shelters.
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 potential outages.
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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.
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.
AFP
Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden plan to travel to Hawaii Monday to survey wildfire damage where excavation work is continuing.
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.