US Pacific coast battens down as Hurricane Hilary threatens ‘catastrophic’ flooding
- It’s the first tropical storm warning to hit Southern California in more than 80 years, including LA and San Diego
- ‘This is … historic, life-threatening and potentially catastrophic’, a senior hurricane specialist said
Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico’s Baja California on Saturday as the US National Hurricane Centre predicted “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” for the peninsula and for the southwestern United States, where it was forecast to cross the border as a tropical storm on Sunday.
Officials issued an evacuation advisory for the tourist destination of Santa Catalina Island, 23 miles off the Southern California coast, while authorities in Los Angeles scrambled to get the homeless off the streets and into shelters.
Hilary remained a Major Category 3 hurricane, set to plough into Mexico’s Baja peninsula on Saturday night before rushing north and entering the history books as the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years.
“I don’t think any of us – I know me particularly – never thought I’d be standing here talking about a hurricane or a tropical storm,” said Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Forecasters said the storm could bring heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, dumping 8cm to 15cm in places, with isolated amounts of up to 25cm, in portions of southern California and southern Nevada.
The US National Hurricane Centre issued tropical storm and potential flood warnings for Southern California from the Pacific coast to interior mountains and deserts. The San Bernardino County sheriff on Saturday issued evacuation warnings for several mountain and foothill communities ahead of the storm.