Hurricane Hilary brings threat of 'catastrophic and life-threatening' flooding to Mexico and California

Mexico: Hurricane Hilary has unleashed heavy rains on parts of Mexico's Baja California peninsula and the southwestern United States, prompting officials to issue dire warnings of potentially "catastrophic and life-threatening" flooding.

Although the storm has weakened from a powerful Category 4 to a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it still poses the risk of causing "extensive damage." The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) anticipates that hurricane conditions will persist along the Baja California coast through Sunday morning.

As of Saturday afternoon, Hilary was generating maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kilometres per hour) with higher gusts, the NHC reported.

The NHC forecasted that the "centre of Hilary will move close to the west-central coast of the Baja California Peninsula tonight and Sunday morning, then move across southern California Sunday afternoon and Sunday night." Predictions indicate that the storm will weaken to a tropical storm before reaching southern California and southern Nevada, though heavy rainfall and flooding remain plausible.

Preventive measures have been undertaken by residents and workers in the Mexican tourist haven of Cabo San Lucas, with protective boarding and thousands of sandbags put in place to combat crashing waves. In Cabo San Lucas, military personnel patrolled the beach, a favoured destination for both local and international tourists.

"We took all the precautionary measures last night," said Omar Olvera, an employee at a beachfront restaurant in Cabo San Lucas. He expressed readiness and caution, noting, "We're just looking out for the workers and waiting for the weather to come," reported AFP.

In the town of Todos Santos, streets were largely vacant due to the storm, and Cerritos' beach had been closed due to turbulent waves.

Marco Segura, a worker in Cerritos, told the outlet, "Last night we felt the wind picking up, it wasn't as strong as we were expecting but it still caused us to worry."

The Mexican government deployed almost 19,000 soldiers to regions severely affected by the storm, while the federal electric utility dispatched 800 workers and numerous vehicles to tackle potential power outages.

In the United States, the NHC cautioned that "rainfall amounts of three to six inches, with isolated amounts of 10 inches, are expected across portions of southern California and southern Nevada," adding that "dangerous to catastrophic flooding is expected."

Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, stressed that Hilary might be one of the most severe storms to hit the state in over a decade. "Make no mistake," she emphasised, "This is a very, very dangerous and significant storm."

As Hilary approached, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dispatched response teams to the targeted areas. President Joe Biden, preparing to assess damage from a devastating wildfire in Hawaii, received regular updates and urged citizens to heed safety advisories.

Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer rescheduled games planned for Sunday in the affected US region.

While hurricanes are an annual occurrence in Mexico on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, their remnants rarely influence California with tropical storm intensity. Scientists have repeatedly warned that as the planet warms due to climate change, storms are growing in intensity.