Storm Hilary drenches Nevada after hitting California with mudslides, flooding – live

The first tropical storm to hit southern California in 84 years, Hilary has already dropped more than half an average year’s worth of rain on some areas, including the desert resort of Palm Springs, which had seen nearly 7.6 centimetres of rain by Sunday evening.

Forecasters warned of dangerous flash floods across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and fire officials rescued 13 people from knee-deep water in a homeless encampment along the rising San Diego River. Meanwhile, rain and debris washed out some roadways and people left their cars stranded in standing water.

Crews pumped floodwaters out of the emergency room at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school system, said all campuses would be closed on Monday, as did districts across the region, while the Palm Springs Police Department said in a statement on Sunday that 911 lines were down and that in the event of an emergency to text 911 or reach out to the nearest police or fire station.

Tropical Storm Hilary is projected to weaken as it continues moving northward over California and into Nevada, but Richard Pasch, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said “very heavy” rain and strong winds are still likely.

Footage taken from a helicopter flying over the city shows the stadium for the LA Dodgers baseball team surrounded by water while the field inside is seemingly still spared from the floodwaters.

The footage was posted by the account dodgeraerial on Instagram and subsequently shared on other platforms.

Satellite footage shows the moment Tropical Storm Hilary moved into the southwest of the United States on Sunday, 20 August.

The storm was previously classed as a Category 4 hurricane but weakened as it hit Mexico.

“Life-threatening” floods have hammered California after Hilary – the first tropical storm to hit the state since 1997 – made its way up the West Coast.

Officials have warned Los Angeles and San Diego to shelter away from the flooding in a tropical storm warning.

Footage posted to social media shows rapid lightning strikes hitting as Tropical Storm Hilary approaches California.

The clip posted to Twitter/X shows the sky lighting up in the early hours of 19 August as a thunderstorm hit San Diego.

Southern California faced its its first tropical storm in 84 years, with the threat of flooding, blackouts, high winds and tornadoes.

Millions of Americans were under flood and high-wind warnings as the storm moved north, unleashing heavy rains from the California-Mexico border to Las Vegas and beyond.

Part of a road in Santa Clarita, California, collapsed into storm water after Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in the state on Sunday, 20 August.

Santa Clarita City officials posted footage on Twitter/X showing part of the concrete crumbling as water gushes.

Residents were urged to move to higher ground immediately and to avoid walking or driving through floodwaters.

A natural El Nino, human-caused climate crisis, a stubborn heat dome over the nation’s midsection and other factors cooked up Tropical Storm Hilary’s record-breaking slosh into California and Nevada, scientists figure.

From the collision of deadly, climate-driven disasters in the United States emerged a small sliver of good fortune on Monday, writes Louise Boyle.

Tropical Story Hillary, which has deluged Mexico, California and Nevada, is now bringing much-needed rain over the wildfires raging in Washington state as the system moves north.

Tropical Storm Hilary is expected to drive north through southern California into Nevada over the course of Monday having already brought heavy rain and flooding to the desert region, forcing rescuers to pull several people from swollen rivers.

Although Hilary has weakened from hurricane status, millions expect more flooding and mudslides to come.

The Pacific front had drifted north along the coast of Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula before it made landfall on Sunday in a sparsely populated area about 150 miles south of Ensenada.

Death Valley in California, known for its extremely hot temperatures, saw its “wettest day on record in 112 years” on Sunday, according to data shared by Weather Channel senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman on Twitter.

Tropical storm Hilary dumped 2.2 inches of rain over Death Valley on Sunday, which also happens to be the average yearly precipitation for the region.

Like the rest of California, Death Valley was also under threat of flooding with the national park remaining close as mud and debris cut off roads.