After speeding along the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, the center of Hurricane Hilary was located in the state of California on Sunday afternoon with the highest sustained winds of 60 miles (95 kilometers)/ hour. In a region of the United States that is generally dry, the southwestern region was hit with heavy rainfall, which brought warnings of possibly life-threatening floods. And as if that weren’t enough, a quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale struck close to the town of Ojai in southern California, but there were no reported instances of damage or injuries.
Find out more information on the recent weather emergency that occurs in California.
Hurricane Hilary had earlier reached Category 4, the second-most violent level on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Still, it was reduced to a tropical storm as it approached the heavily populated city of Tijuana on the Mexican border.
Hurricane Hilary is going to be a serious impact and threat to southern California, stated Deanne Criswell, US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator.
According to the office of Newsom, the authorities have built up five storm shelters and have dispatched more than 7,500 workers, including several hundred troops from the National Guard as well as swift water search and rescue teams. People were told to stay away from the beaches, and authorities instructed them to make sure they had enough water along with other necessities at local businesses. Warnings of flash flooding and even tornadoes have been put out for some of the affected areas. People in San Diego packed sandbags in preparation for the possibility of flooding, as lifeguards advised residents to avoid going near the water.
Hurricanes strike the shores of Mexico on a yearly basis, both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Even while storms may occasionally be seen in California, it is quite unusual for one to hit the state with such a great deal of force. The federal electric service in Mexico sent 800 staff and hundreds of trucks to respond to any power outages that may have occurred. Meanwhile, the Mexican government dispatched roughly 19,000 soldiers to the states that were hit the worst by the hurricane.
As a result of climate change, scientists have expressed concern that severe storms will become more frequent and intense in the future.
