Weather: Devastating tropical storm Hillary hits Mexico, California
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A devastating tropical storm, named Hillary, lashed Mexico and Southern California on Sunday, throwing the normal life of hundreds of thousands out of gear, inundating roads, trapping automobiles amid fallen trees, and forcing aviators to shut down hundreds of flights in and out of the severely affected region, early reports said.
In the afternoon, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter Scale hit Southern California near Ojai, about 130 km northwest of downtown Los Angeles, the US Geological Survey said. The temblor, followed by smaller aftershocks, was felt widely. But there were no immediate reports of major damage or injury.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said its officials inside California’s emergency center were readied and teams kept on standby with food, water, and other help.
To the north in Nevada also, Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency and activated 100 National Guard troops to assist with problems from flooding in western Clark and Nye counties and southern Esmeralda County. In Arizona, wind gusts neared 97 km per hour in Yuma County, where officials distributed thousands of sandbags.
The weatherman said Hillary is the first such tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, bringing flash floods, mudslides, high winds, power outages, and possible isolated tornadoes. It inundated streets across Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula with devastating floodwaters before crossing over into Southern California, where it swamped roads and felled trees, as concerns mounted that flash floods could strike up to Idaho that rarely get such torrential rain.
Tropical storm Hilary made landfall along the Mexican coast in a sparsely populated area about 250 km south of Ensenada, then moved through mudslide-prone Tijuana, threatening the improvised homes that cling to hillsides just south of the US border, the reports said.
At least 9 million people were under flash-flood watches and warnings as heavy rain fell across normally sunny Southern California ahead of the brunt of the storm. Forecasters warned that desert areas were especially susceptible along hillsides with wildfire burn scars.
Mud and boulders spilled onto highways, water overwhelmed drainage systems and trees fell from San Diego to Los Angeles. Dozens of automobiles got trapped in floodwaters in Palm Springs and surrounding desert communities across the Coachella Valley, forcing officials to shut down educational institutions.
By Sunday evening, Hilary had moved over San Diego and headed north into inland desert areas. Some areas got as much rain in hours as they typically get in a year.
Hilary is the latest major climate disaster to wreak havoc across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Hawaii’s island of Maui is still reeling from a blaze that killed over 100 people and ravaged the historic town of Lahaina, making it the deadliest US wildfire in over a century. Firefighters in Canada are battling that nation’s worst fire season on record.
The Mexican cities of Ensenada and Tijuana closed all beaches and opened shelters at sports complexes and government offices. One person drowned Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia when a vehicle was swept away in an overflowing stream. Rescue workers saved four other people.
Mexican troops fanned out across Mulege, where some of the worst damage occurred on Saturday last week on the eastern side of the Baja Peninsula. Soldiers used bulldozers and dump trucks to help clear tons of boulders and earth-clogging streets and roads that were turned into raging torrents a day earlier.
Power lines tripped in many places, and emergency personnel worked overtime to restore electricity and reach those cut off by the storm.
Authorities issued evacuation warnings on Saturday for Santa Catalina Island, urging residents and beachgoers to keep away. Orange County alerted those still staying in a wildfire burn scar in the Santa Ana Mountains’ Silverado and Williams canyons.
Los Angeles authorities rushed to get homeless people into shelters, and officials ordered all state beaches in San Diego and Orange counties closed.
Across the region, municipalities ran out of free sandbags, and grocery shelves emptied as people stockpiled supplies. California’s Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and Death Valley National Park were closed.
US President Joe Biden urged the people in the path of the storm to take precautions and follow the guidance of officials.
In September 1939, a tropical storm in California ripped apart train tracks, tore houses from their foundations, and capsized many boats, killing nearly 100 people on land and at sea.
