Hurricane Hilary was downgraded Saturday, August 19, to Category 1 on a scale of 5 on the Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico, and is tracking southwestern United States preparing for potentially dangerous floods. Hilary weakened significantly, despite gusts of up to 150 km/h, and was 280 kilometers from Punta Eugenia, a town in the heart of the Baja California peninsula, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC). -United.
The hurricane’s eye will “move near the west-central coast of the Baja California Peninsula” overnight Saturday through Sunday, the NHC said, and “then move across Southern California Sunday afternoon “. Hilary is expected to weaken further to become a tropical storm before reaching southern California and southern Nevada, with heavy rains and flooding likely.
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Residents and staff at the Mexican tourist resort of Los Cabos began protecting homes and businesses with signs and thousands of sandbags as huge waves crashed onto the shore. Military patrols circulate on the city beach, a popular destination for Mexican and foreign tourists. “We took all the necessary measures last night, we are now taking care of the workers and making sure that, while waiting for the hurricane, everyone is well,” Omar Olvera, 34, told AFP on Saturday. years, employee of a restaurant located on the beach.
The streets of the town of Todos Santos, on the west coast of the peninsula, were largely deserted on Saturday while nearby Cerritos beach was closed due to rough ocean conditions. It is the first hurricane of the season to make landfall on the Pacific side. The Mexican Navy reported “minor damage to the civilian population and infrastructure,” such as falling trees, flooding, and minor damage to some roads in Baja California.
For its part, the government of the state of Baja California, where the city of Tijuana is located, has opened temporary shelters. According to the Mexican weather services, heavy rain accompanied by lightning is expected, which could lead to flooding in much of the country. They called on the population to exercise caution due to a risk of strong waves and floods.
The Mexican government has deployed nearly 19,000 troops to the states hardest hit by the storm, while the federal electric utility has sent 800 people and hundreds of vehicles to respond to possible outages. “Flooding, from dangerous to catastrophic, is expected” in the United States, the NHC warned. According to Nancy Ward, director of the California governor’s office of emergency services, Hilary could be one of the worst storms to hit the state in more than a decade. “It’s a very, very dangerous and major storm,” she said at a press conference on Saturday.
