Hurricane Hilary prompts historic tropical storm warning for California as Southwest braces for dangerous rains and flooding | CNN

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Residents in the Southwest brace for “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” as Hurricane Hillary It is expected to hit the region as a rare tropical storm beginning Saturday and continuing into next week.

The hurricane weakened from a very dangerous Category 4 to a Category 3 storm on Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm remains a major hurricane moving with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, the center says.

The storm has picked up speed, now moving at 16 mph, and is currently 235 miles west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Hilary is expected to continue to weaken as it moves north-northwest through cooler waters toward southern California.

Live Updates: Hurricane Hilary Will Bring Major Flood Risk to California

The storm is moving faster than expected, which will bring impacts to the US sooner. Torrential rains from the storm will begin to arrive in the southwest on Saturday, well before Hillary’s strongest core winds. Those winds could arrive as early as Sunday morning, along with more prolific and dangerous showers, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Hilary has sped up a bit, along with a slight shift to the east in her trajectory. This results in Sunday morning through Sunday night being the period of greatest impact,” the National Weather Service in San Diego said.

The threat has triggered California’s first tropical storm warning stretching from the state’s southern border to north of Los Angeles.

The Southwest is forecast to see heavy rain through early next week, with the heaviest conditions Sunday through Monday, as Hillary progresses. The deluges could bring more than a year’s worth of rain to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Parts of southern California and Nevada could see 3 to 6 inches of rain and up to 10 inches in some places, the center said. Elsewhere, amounts of 1 to 3 inches are forecast.

While Hilary’s core will have a major impact, the NHC has warned that high winds and rain will begin long before it arrives.

“Preparations for rain flood impacts should be completed as soon as possible, as heavy rains will increase before the center on Saturday,” the hurricane center said. saying.

In anticipation of the storm, officials throughout the region have begun preparing for dangerous road conditions, downed electrical infrastructure, and dangerous flood conditions.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo announced Friday that 100 soldiers from the state’s National Guard will deploy to southern Nevada, which can experience significant flooding.

President Joe Biden said at a news conference Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has preemptively positioned personnel and supplies to respond in Southern California or other parts of the region, if necessary.

If Hilary makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first such storm to do so in the state in nearly 84 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Parts of Southern California face a high risk of excessive rainfall, also the first Level 4 of 4 threat to be issued for the area. This level of risk is exceptionally rare. From 2010 to 2020, high hazards were issued on less than 4% of days per year on average, but were responsible for 83% of all flood-related damage and 39% of all flood-related deaths, according to a investigation of the weather forecast center shows

Due to the significant threat, the state has prepared water rescue teams, California National Guard personnel and flood-fighting gear in advance of Hillary’s arrival, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Friday.

Highway maintenance crews will also be staffed around the clock to help with road safety, the governor’s office said.

Southern California Edison Electric Company, which serves more than 15 million people in the region, saying Thursday that Hilary is on track to impact much of its service area. The company said it is preparing to respond to the outages, but urged residents to gather supplies, including flashlights, external battery chargers, and coolers.

With the homeless community particularly at risk from flooding, officials in Los Angeles and San Diego say they are conducting outreach and offering temporary shelter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it is also mapping campgrounds at risk and making aerial announcements about the storm.

“We hope that the storm does not cause any damage and, more importantly, that no lives are lost,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Friday. “But we will prepare for the worst case scenario, not just to help people here in our county, but if we are not impacted or impacted, we will become a resource to other neighboring counties as needed.”

San Diego has also spent the past few days cleaning storm drains, clearing streets and preparing equipment, Mayor Todd Gloria said Friday.

The storm threat also prompted Major League Baseball to revise its weekend schedule in the region, moving Sunday games hosted by the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres to split into a doubleheader on Saturday. The Major League Soccer matches of the LA Galaxy and LAFC clubs on Sunday have been rescheduled for later dates.