We had quite a weekend here in southern California as hurricane Hilary made landfall as a tropical storm. Schools are closed today in San Diego and Los Angeles on what was supposed to be the start of the new school year. There were no deaths in LA County but the downpour certainly made a mess with flash floods, fallen trees and car accidents all over the place. The worst hit area appeared to be Palm Springs.
In Palm Springs, a local state of emergency was declared due “unprecedented rainfall and flooding of local roadways and at least one swift water rescue,” according to officials.
“Palm Springs police and fire continue to urge residents to stay home and avoid driving during these dangerous conditions,” a statement from the city said.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain posted on social media Sunday afternoon that Palm Springs “recorded its heaviest hourly rainfall on record, and intense tropical downpours could continue for hours in the Coachella Valley.”
Dozens of people lost cars in the deluge. This is from Cathedral City:
FLOODING NEAR PALM SPRINGS: This video was taken in Cathedral City where the entrance to a gated community was covered in flood waters as #TropicalStormHilary continues to move across #SoCal. https://t.co/D1IhBlYGn1 pic.twitter.com/VLRz93UtdS
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) August 21, 2023
Major Flash Flooding-Dozens of Vehicles Stranded-Water Rescues. 08-20-2023 Cathedral City, CA. #HurricaneHilary pic.twitter.com/DscWuWYGfN
— Kevin Luan (@steam_luan) August 21, 2023
Homes in Cathedral City were flooded as well.
As shown last night before nightfall, Cathedral City is a hot mess. #HurricaneHilary pic.twitter.com/ez7uuNBY3z
— Ｎｅｒｄｙ 🅰🅳🅳🅸🅲🆃 (@Nerdy_Addict) August 21, 2023
Looks like at least one car didn’t make it through the deep water.
Fred Waring Dr. In Palm Desert, CA flooded with cars stranded and FD on the scene. @weatherchannel @TWCChrisWarren @TWCAlexWilson @NWSSanDiego #hilary pic.twitter.com/efxNJkSR1v
— Charles Peek (@CharlesPeekWX) August 20, 2023
And that truck looks like it’s done.
Hurricane Hilary is hitting Palm Desert and Palm Springs hard right now… my mom just sent me this video. I grew up there, family still lives there. #HurricaneHilary pic.twitter.com/v9GBg9RC9d
— Matt Roy (@MattRoy_TV) August 21, 2023
My brother sent me this video of how it is back home in Palm springs y’all this is crazy they are not built for this much rain 😭 pic.twitter.com/RREc2r0TIK
— mari (@palmspringsrry) August 21, 2023
These riverbeds are normally dry:
#WATCH MASSIVE DEBRIS PLUG FLOODING HEADED FOR PALM SPRINGS! Crossed I-10! #PalmSprings #HurricaneHilary #Hurriquake #SoCalwx #Hurricane #HILARY #Califonia #BREAKINGNEWS #Breaking #HuracanHilary #HurricaneHilary #HurricaneHillary pic.twitter.com/SYujey3GoV
— Nitesh rathore (@niteshr813) August 21, 2023
This is from Palm Desert:
Flood waters filling up the washes in Palm Desert, CA. @weatherchannel @NWSSanDiego @TWCChrisWarren @TWCAlexWilson #Hilary #cawx pic.twitter.com/7bD0TLLl7D
— Charles Peek (@CharlesPeekWX) August 20, 2023
This is from nearby Rancho Mirage:
Check out this drone footage of the flooding near Palm Springs, CA#HurricaneHillary #HurricaneHilary #Hurriquake pic.twitter.com/rMHhRpNj0G
— 🌈 Tess T. Eccles-Brown, PhD (@TTEcclesBrown) August 21, 2023
The I-10 freeway which is the major route to Palm Springs and surrounding areas is shut down in both directions and the city’s 911 system is also down.
“Right now we have flooding on all of our roads. There’s no way in or out of Palm Springs and that’s the case for the majority of the Coachella valley. We’re all stuck. Our major freeway, I-10, is also closed in both directions. This is a very extreme situation at the moment. Our 911 lines are also down. Any resident that needs 911 can text 911 in the city of Palm Springs or they can call a non-emergency number,” Mayor Grace Garner said Monday.
If all of that wasn’t enough, we also had an earthquake Sunday:
The 5.1-magnitude quake struck at 2:41 p.m. about 4 miles (7 kilometers) southeast of the mountain community of Ojai, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Again, it seems no one was hurt but it did scare people.
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit Ojai in Ventura County, according to @USGS.
The quake, which occurred 4.34 miles southeast of Ojai, was first reported around 2:40 p.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 and was later upgraded to 5.1. @kpixtv #socal pic.twitter.com/QyCc3nC85b— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) August 21, 2023
Overall, not a great weekend for the state though with this deluge we continue to be almost free of drought.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member