California Drenched by First Tropical Storm in 84 Years

The first tropical storm to hit California since 1939, Hilary, which initially began in the Pacific Ocean as a hurricane reaching Category 4 strength, brought a deluge of rain followed by flash flooding to the Los Angeles area on Sunday. The storm hit Mexico’s Baja California first, turning roads into rivers and killing one person.

A state of emergency was declared by Governor Gavin Newsom for a large swath of Southern California, as the drought-parched region was under flash flood warnings into at least early Monday morning.

“It’s quite amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sean Julian, a resident of Rancho Mirage, as Reuters reported. “I’m seeing a lot more trees down. And there’s a big tree that just fell over there, and I probably shouldn’t be out here.”

Minimal damage and no fatalities had been reported in the Los Angeles area as the Los Angeles River, normally more of a thin stream, rushed through its concrete banks.

“For most cities, Los Angeles was tested but we came through it, and we came through it with minimal impacts,” said Paul Krekorian, president of the Los Angeles City Council, as reported by The New York Times. “For most cities, a tropical storm combined with a hurricane would be a catastrophic event. For Los Angeles and for our first responders, it’s just another day at the office.”

The desert resort town of Palm Springs was still under a flood watch through early Tuesday morning, its roads impassable.

“There is no way in or out of Palm Springs,” Mayor of Palm Springs Grace Garner said in a CNN interview on Monday morning, as The New York Times reported.

Forecasters said desert and mountain areas could see five to 10 inches of rain, as much as the drier regions get in an entire year, reported Reuters.

Evacuations were ordered in San Bernardino County in the midst of trees, rock and mud giving way to gushing water.

Parts of Ventura County were hit by as much as two inches of rain in a span of two hours, with water rescues carried out by firefighters in the Spanish Hills community.

President Joe Biden ordered federal aid to be sent to the region.

In Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, low-income communities with homes not up to building codes were especially vulnerable. Almost 1,900 people were evacuated in the area.

“We’ve always been aware that it’s a risky area. A lot of water runs (nearby) but what are we going to do? It’s the only place we have to live,” said Yolanda Contreras, who lives in a flood-prone area of Rosarito, Mexico, as Reuters reported.

Now post-tropical storm Hilary is still bringing rain to California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Idaho, where flood watches were in effect, reported CBS News.

“Post-Tropical Hilary is expected to produce additional rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches, with isolated storm total amounts to 12 inches, across portions of Southern California and Southern Nevada through today. Continued flash and urban flooding, locally catastrophic, is expected,” the National Weather Service said on Monday.