The US National Hurricane Center has warned that an oncoming storm may create “life-threatening” flooding in Mexico and the south-western United States.
Hurricane Hilary is making its way towards Mexico’s Pacific coast, packing gusts of high to 130 miles per hour (215 kilometers per hour). It is predicted to hit shore later Saturday.
Forecasters predict that it will then slow down and become a tropical storm as it moves near southern California.
It would be the state’s first tropical storm in more than 80 years.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued its first tropical storm warning for the state, predicting “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” in the Mexican state of Baja California and the south-west US during the next two days.
According to US President Joe Biden, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has “pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the region.” “I urge everyone in the storm’s path to take precautions and follow the advice of state and local officials.”
Rainfall could exceed 10 inches (25 centimeters) in certain regions, causing “significant and rare” consequences in sections of southern California and southern Nevada, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The NWS issued a flash flood warning for San Diego due to the “high potential” of flash flooding. Flood warnings were issued for almost 26 million people in the southwest United States.
The storm was around 300 miles (500 kilometers) west of Baja California’s southern tip at 12:00 GMT on Saturday, according to the NHC.
The projected route of Hurricane Hilary is seen on the map. It proceeds north from the Mexican coast (09:00 on Saturday), hitting landfall (06:00 on Sunday), and continues across California (late Sunday and into Monday).
Parts of Mexico are under tropical storm warnings, and the government has deployed 18,000 soldiers to aid in rescue attempts.
As the storm approaches, Major League Baseball has rescheduled three games in southern California, and SpaceX has postponed a rocket launch from its facility on the central California coast until at least Monday.
In addition, the National Park Service closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve in California to avoid people from becoming stuck in the case of floods.
As evacuations accelerate, wildfires overtake houses across Canada.
Scenes of apocalypse as Canadians escape wildfires
Local officials in cities around the area, including Arizona, are providing sandbags to individuals who want to protect their homes from expected flooding.
In Mexico, hurricanes and tropical storms are rather common. However, the last time a tropical cyclone hit southern California was at Long Beach in 1939.
According to experts, the unusual weather phenomena hitting the United States – and other parts of the world – are being affected by human-caused climate change.
According to Nasa, the worst wildfire in modern US history erupted over Hawaii on August 8, 2023, following the hottest month on record, July 2023.
Hurricane gusts sweeping across the area exacerbated the devastation.
