Tropical Storm Hilary brought record rainfall to California, closing schools, roads and businesses before moving further west on Monday.
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The flooding turned freeways into rivers and blocked many motorists, such as in the normally deserted Palm Springs area, two hours from Los Angeles.
This storm, very rare in Southern California, broke daily rainfall records, according to authorities.
Weakened, Hilary is now considered a post-tropical cyclone. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that the heavy rains could still lead to flooding and strong gusts of wind are still to be expected.
Leading up to this, the famous Death Valley National Park, which is normally hit by sweltering heat rather than torrential rain, has announced its closure due to possible “dangerous flooding”.
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The Los Angeles school district, the second largest in the United States, decided Monday to close its schools.
After crossing Nevada, the storm is expected to continue north into Oregon and Idaho.
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake also struck near the southern California town of Ojai, but no damage or casualties were initially reported.
Hillary landed in the Baja California peninsula of northwestern Mexico on Sunday. A man died there after his vehicle was swept away by the waves.
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“This is an unprecedented weather event,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency across much of the state’s southern region. Reception centers have been set up and rescue teams mobilized.
Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner spoke to CNN about the “serious situation” her city is in.
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“Right now all our streets are flooded. You can no longer enter or leave Palm Springs, and this applies to most of the Coachella Valley. We’re all stuck,” she said.
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden is closely monitoring the operations.
He also has to travel to Hawaii with First Lady Jill Biden on Monday to view the damage caused by the deadly wildfires and find out about the ongoing search operations.
It’s the first tropical storm of the season to make landfall on the Pacific side.
Storms are getting stronger as the world warms from climate change, scientists say.
“We also need to look at what climate change has to do with these storms,” Deanne Criswell, director of the federal agency for disaster management, told CNN. “What will the risk of the future look like?”