Hurricane Hilary is set to cause serious flooding and will be the first tropical storm to hit California since 1939.
The storm rapidly grew to Category 4 strength on Friday and is expected to plow into the Mexican peninsula on Saturday night.
It will then move upwards into Tijuana on Sunday before hitting southern California later the same day, having weakened slightly to become a tropical storm.
But it still poses extreme danger to those in its path, with the US National Hurricane Center warned of ‘catastrophic and life-threatening flooding’.
The US Navy has announced it will send many of its warships out to San Diego Bay to help manage and secure boats in the port when the hurricane hits the region.
Officials in Los Angeles are setting up shelters and working to get homeless people who live in the city’s famous dry riverbed away from it, in anticipation of it being inundated with water.
A tropical storm warning was issued by the National Hurricane Center for large parts of Southern California, including the Pacific coast, interior mountains and deserts.
There have been discussions over evacuation plans for people on Catalina Island, which sits just off the Golden State near LA.
Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, told local television station KTLA: ‘I don’t think any of us — I know me particularly — never thought I’d be standing here talking about a hurricane or a tropical storm.’
Hurricane Hilary slowed down later on Friday after it gained power but still remains at Category 4 strength with wind speeds of up to 130 miles per hour.
It was centered around 240 miles west of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula on Saturday morning and was moving northerly at 13 miles per hour.
The storm is expected to pick up speed as it heads north. There are fears the heavy rain could cause dangerous flooding in the border city Tijuana.
Around 1.9 million people in the region live on steep hillsides, and there are fears heavy rainfall could cause landslides.
Montserrat mayor Caballero Ramirez said the city was setting up four shelters in the high-risk zones and warning those who live near the storm’s path.
‘We are a vulnerable city being on one of the most visited borders in the world and because of our landscape,’ she said.
The National Park Service has closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve over fears people could become stranded due to flooding.
While cities in the area, including in Arizona, have provided sandbags to prepare properties against damaging floodwaters.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies urged homeless people living in dry riverbeds to seek shelter away from the storm…Source – Read More!
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