US: Southern California braces for Hurricane Hilary

A tropical storm warning has been issued for Southern California, including downtown Los Angles, as a powerful Category 4 storm moved through the Pacific Ocean toward Mexico and the United States, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center has issued an advisory that Hurricane ‘Hilary’ was led less than 300 miles off the Southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula as of 8 pm Friday in Los Angeles.

The US daily said according to weather experts, the storm may cause “life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flooding” in Baja and the Southwestern region of the country, starting this weekend.

New York Times reported that the warning issued indicates that tropical storm conditions are over the next 36 hours. possible within the coverage area – from the California-Mexico border to the Santa Monica area that includes Catalina Island.  

Hurricane Hilary had sustained winds near 130 miles per hour, the Hurricane Center said. 

Tropical cyclones that have sustained winds of 39 m.p.h. earn a name. Once winds reach 74 m.p.h., a storm becomes a hurricane, and, at 111 m.p.h., it becomes a major hurricane.

A number of events in the Los Angeles area this weekend, including a Major League Soccer match and several Major League Baseball games, have been rescheduled because of the approaching storm.

Hilary will bring up to six inches of rain, with isolated amounts up to 10 inches, across portions of the Baja California Peninsula through Sunday night, with the possibility of flash flooding.

Portions of Southern California and Southern Nevada will record similar rainfall totals through Tuesday morning, which could lead to “dangerous and locally catastrophic flooding,” forecasters said.

According to New York Times, a flood watch was issued for much of Southern California, including Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties. Other areas across the West can expect a few inches of rain.

Forecasters said that strong winds would occur ahead of the storm’s center.

Residents in Southern California raced to prepare sandbags and fill generators ahead of Hilary’s arrival as emergency officials prepared evacuation centres. Some expressed particular concern about the impacts to the mountain and desert regions. (ANI)

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