Hurricane Hilary threatens Mexico, Calif. with ‘catastrophic’ floods

Residents of Mexico’s Baja California on Saturday were bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary, a brutal Category 3 storm expected to trigger “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” across the peninsula before crossing into the United States and pummeling large swaths of the southwest.

The hurricane, previously a monstrous Category 4 storm, weakened slightly overnight, but still boasts sustained windspeeds of approximately 125 mph., according to the most recent update from the National Hurricane Center.

Roaring across the Pacific at speed of about 16 mph, Hilary’s center was located 235 miles west of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula as of 11 a.m. ET. Its expected to pick up pace and turn slightly north before striking the sparsely populated area of the Baja peninsula, located some 200 miles outside of the Pacific port city of Ensenada.

From there, Hilary is forecast to crawl up the peninsula’s coast, dumping heavy rains that could cause disastrous flooding in the border city of Tijuana, where the homes of many in the city of 1.9 million hug steep hillsides sweeping across the region. The storm is expected to unleash three to six inches of rain, including maximum isolated totals of up to 10 inches, across portions of the Baja California peninsula through Sunday night, according to a Saturday bulletin from the National Weather Service.

Flood watches are in effect from Mexico, north to Ventura, and inland to western Arizona, with torrential rains from what remains of Hurricane Hilary expected to wallop the west coast and and parts of the southwest as the weekend wears on into next week.

The National Hurricane Center on Friday issued a rare tropical storm warning for Southern California, where residents will begin to experience the remnants of Hilary as soon as late Saturday or Sunday morning. While Hilary is expected to downgrade to a tropical storm before it roars into the U.S., it is still forecast to bring heavy rainfall and winds to the area and beyond.

Three to six inches of rain, with isolated totals of up to 10 inches, is expected across portions of Southern California and southern Nevada.

President Joe Biden said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had pre-positioned staff and supplies in the region.

“I urge everyone, everyone in the path of this storm, to take precautions and listen to the guidance of state and local officials,” Biden told reporters Friday at Camp David, where he is meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

The National Park Services have closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve to prevent visitors from being swept up in the flooding.

Meanwhile, SpaceX delayed the launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from a base on California’s central coast until at least Monday while Major League Baseball also rescheduled three Sunday games in Southern California, moving them to Saturday as part of split-doubleheaders in light of the storm.

With News Wire Services