August 21, 2023 - Storm Hilary slams California with floods and fierce winds

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest on post-tropical cyclone Hilary or read through the updates below. 

At least a dozen people are being rescued after being trapped by mud at a senior boarding care facility in Cathedral City, California, said Ryan Hunt, a spokesperson for the city.

All of the people being rescued are “doing okay,” Hunt told CNN on Monday.

No other information was immediately available. 

Some background: Parts of Cathedral City experienced “debris flow” of a “large amount of the mud and sand” moving into the area due to Hilary, Fire Chief Michael Contreras said earlier Monday.

He said that rescue teams rescued “seven people” who were trapped because of the debris.

Cathedral City is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, near Joshua Tree National Park.

Ronald Mendiola returns to his home through a flooded street in Cathedral City, California, on Monday.

President Joe Biden has been receiving regular briefings on Tropical Storm Hilary as the storm made landfall over the weekend, White House Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton said Monday.

Per Dalton, the administration has been in touch with local officials in Nevada, Arizona and California and offered support as the states deal with flooding following the storm.

As the remnants of Hilary continue to impact the western United States, Oregon’s emergency management officials are concerned about the possibility of flooding across portions of the state. 

Crabb went on to say, “We have reports of minor flooding currently and communities using sandbags to mitigate the impacts, but there have been no requests for state support at this point.” 

According to Crabb, the office is working with county and tribal partners.

Portions of Oregon are currently under a flood watch through Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

“The remnants of Hurricane Hilary will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain to portions of northeastern Oregon through Tuesday,” the NWS said in a forecast message. 

Hilary has set a new high mark for rainfall from a tropical system in Nevada, nearly doubling the 116-year-old all-time record there as of Monday morning, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.

The 8.70 inches and counting that have fallen on Lee Canyon, Nevada, from Hilary smashed the previous record of 4.36 inches from an unnamed tropical system in 1906.

Hilary forged new ground for tropical systems in Nevada when it became the first tropical storm to ever cross into the state earlier on Monday.

More rainfall is possible throughout the day Monday which could add to the total.

Another professional sports event has been impacted by Hilary.

The Los Angeles Angels home game against the Cincinnati Reds that was scheduled for Monday night has been postponed due “to the effects from yesterday’s storm,” the Angels announced Monday.

The game has been rescheduled for Wednesday and will be played as part of a split doubleheader.

Collapsed power lines are seen in Mexicali, Mexico, on August 20.

Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission has restored power to 80% of customers affected in Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora states after Hurricane Hilary hit over the weekend.

Nearly 380,000 customers were affected by the storm, the company said in a statement. It said that power has been restored to more than 300,000 of those people.

The CFE said it will continue to work to restore power to the remaining affected users. 

In the areas hit by the storm, at least 2,728 Mexican Armed Forces members are providing support in the towns of Bahía Tortuga, Loreto, Punta Abreojos, Guerrero Negro, San Ignacio, Vizcaíno, Santa Rosalía, and Mulegé, authorities said in a separate statement.  

The authorities also said that 250 elements specialized in civil protection are providing different support among citizens, including delivering food and bottled water.

At least one person died in Mexico on Sunday after their vehicle was swept away just north of Santa Rosalía, in Baja California, Mexico, according to a Mexican government statement.

A worker drags caution tape to block off a road after a tree fell in Los Angeles on August 20.

Los Angeles officials report no deaths or significant injuries as a result of Tropical Storm Hilary and all weather warnings in the city have been cancelled.

“We are past the brunt of the impact,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ariel Cohen.

The Los Angeles Fire Department fielded more than 4,000 emergency calls on Sunday and responded to about 1,800 incidents, Chief Kristin Crowley said at a news conference on Monday.

Among those calls was to help five cars stranded in a flooded intersection of Sun Valley. One person was safely rescued from that incident, Crowley said.

Damage surveys have found no significant debris flows in the city, but there are several areas with flooding and uprooted trees.

Flood water has impacted an underground power vault leading to an outage of about 6,000 in the Beverly Grove area, with other outages reported in Hollywood, Hyde Park, and Brentwood, but the vast majority of city power customers remain unaffected.

Cleanup efforts are underway and the city expects to resume most normal operations soon, including schools.

“Our teams have been scouring our schools, and so far, conditions are pretty good,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. A couple dozen schools have lost phone and internet service, and one school has been impacted by a minor mudslide.

School in the Los Angeles Unified School District will reopen on Tuesday, Carvalho announced.

Los Angeles city workers are working virtually on Monday but conditions should be clear to return to work tomorrow, Mayor Karen Bass said this morning after she gave an update on the impact of storm Hilary.

“As skies clear, the Department of Water and Power crews have already mobilized to return power to Angelenos,” she noted at a press conference. “Now street teams respond to road damages and mud slides.”

There have not been any death or injury reports so far, she added, but warned that damages can occur hours or days after a storm hits so people should continue to be vigilant.

Cathedral City, California Fire Chief Michael Contreras told CNN this morning the city is in the middle of the recovery effort from Hilary and that people remain “trapped” in their homes awaiting the roads to be cleared.

Contreras said that parts of Cathedral City experienced “debris flow” of a “large amount of the mud and sand” moving into the area due to the storm.

He said that rescue teams have been able to extricate “seven people” who were trapped because of the debris.

He implored residents to stay inside and off the roads.

“If you don’t need to get out, give us some time, and we will get the tractors and the manpower, and we will clear the streets,” Contreras said.

Cathedral City is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, near Joshua Tree National Park.

A plow clears debris along a flooded highway in Palmdale, California, on August 20.

Hilary unleashed prolific rainfall and strong winds across California and portions of the southwestern US over the weekend. The cyclone’s impacts are far from over, but records are already begun to pile up.

Here are the top storm reports as of Monday morning:

Other notables:

A road is washed out in Palm Springs, California, on Sunday.

Palm Springs is reeling from the impact of Hilary with 911 lines down since Sunday night and roads closed due to flooding.

Crews have conducted three swift water rescues but there are no reported fatalities so far, Garner told CNN.

With the storm now a post-tropical cyclone, Garner says the water has started to recede. “We are expecting a sun-filled day today and that will really help.”

The nation’s second largest school district is closed Monday because of storm Hilary, which is now a a post-tropical cyclone, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Sunday.

“Tomorrow there will be no schools active across Los Angeles Unified,” Carvalho said in a city news conference.

“Everything will be shut down,” including after school programs and activities, he added. 

Carvalho, who came to the Los Angeles district from Miami-Dade Public Schools, has experience leading a large district through hurricanes and tropical storms.

The decision was based on the inability to fully survey schools and ensure the safe conditions of roads and other conditions, Carvalho said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District cover an area of about 700 square miles, meaning the geographical differences of affected neighborhood schools will vary greatly.

In nearby Pasadena, schools will also be closed on Monday, the Pasadena Unified School District said Sunday.

“With the safety and well-being of our students, employees, and their families as our highest priority, we have decided to close PUSD schools tomorrow, Monday, August 21, 2023,” the district said in a news release citing the flash flood, wind and storm warnings currently in place.

“We want everyone to stay safe and avoid any unnecessary travel or exposure to dangerous road conditions,” the district stated.

And schools in the San Diego Unified School District will also be closed on Monday, delaying the start of the school year, according to a news release.

San Diego Unified serves more than 121,000 students in preschool through 12th grade. 

The Palm Springs Unified School District also announced that schools will be closed due to the severe weather conditions, resulting in many roads to be flooded. The district added that schools will reopen with their regular schedule Tuesday.

Hilary isn’t the only system worth watching.

Tropical activity exploded to life in the Atlantic over the weekend. Three tropical storms – Emily, Franklin and Gert – are churning in the basin and another may form in the Gulf of Mexico and head for Texas early this week. 

The potential Texas system was just an area of organizing showers and thunderstorms in the central Gulf of Mexico early Monday. It should continue to get its act together Monday, and by Tuesday, a tropical depression or tropical storm could form close to the Texas coast.

Regardless of tropical development, heavy rain and potential flooding issues will target portions of Texas and northern Mexico late Monday through Tuesday.  

Franklin is in the Caribbean Sea and is expected to bring strong winds and flooding rainfall to Hispaniola and Puerto Rico Tuesday and Wednesday. Emily and Gert are in the open Atlantic and won’t threaten land.

A car sits partially submerged in floodwaters in Cathedral City, California, on Sunday.

Hilary is now a post-tropical cyclone, but will continue to unload heavy rainfall and gusty winds to a large part of the western US Monday.

A post-tropical cyclone is one that has lost a majority of its tropical characteristics but can still produce significant rain and wind. To be considered tropical, a cyclone must have a well-defined center and its surface winds must swirl in an organized circulation – Hilary no longer has either factor.  

The axis of heaviest rain from Hilary will shift north on Monday.

Gusty winds from Hilary will impact parts of Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Montana with sustained winds of 25-35 mph and higher gusts likely Monday. Winds of this magnitude can still cause damage to trees and power lines.  

Hilary is expected to fully dissipate later Monday, but its residual moisture will still enhance rainfall across the northern US into at least midweek. 

As Hilary has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, less than 20,000 customers are without power in Southern California, according to Steve Powell, president and CEO of Southern California Edison.

“Right now the major center of the storm’s gone through. And so we’re hoping that we’ve seen the worst of it,” Powell said, adding that crews are out working to restore power.

“Our crews are out working right now. Over the weekend, we’ve already restored nearly 400,000 customers with power. They’ll work in the rain. They will only work if it’s safe to do so. If there’s heavy flooding, they’ll assess the conditions,” he added.

The company crews are still responding to flooding and rain, and Sunday’s 5.1-magnitude earthquake did not add to the disruptions, Powell told CNN.

Workers set up a sign near a flooded intersection in San Bernardino, California, on Sunday.

Hilary is now a post-tropical cyclone and continues to move through the southwestern United States, bringing life-threatening flooding and gusty winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.

A post-tropical cyclone is a cyclone that no longer possesses sufficient tropical characteristics to be considered a tropical cyclone, but can continue to produce heavy rains and high winds.

Hilary has winds of 35 mph with stronger gusts and is located about 390 miles north of San Diego, in central Nevada, racing to the north at 29 mph.

Strong winds are expected to persist across portions of the western US today, particularly in and near areas of higher terrain.

All coastal tropical storm warnings have been discontinued. Flood watches remain in place for over 25 million people from Southern California northward to northern Idaho.

Workers attempt to unclog a drain on a flooded street in Rancho Mirage, California, on Sunday.

Hilary has weakened to a post-tropical cyclone that’s still bringing life-threatening flooding and gusty winds to much of the Southwest US, leaving streets like raging rivers and residents ordered to leave their homes.

After hitting Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm – the state’s first since 1997 – Hilary early Monday was moving over central Nevada, about 390 miles north of San Diego, packing sustained winds of 35 mph with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said.

Continuing rain is expected to cause life-threatening or catastrophic flash, urban and arroyo flooding in some places, including landslides, mudslides and debris flows. Localized flooding is expected into Tuesday morning across northern portions of the Intermountain West.

“Areas that normally do not experience flash flooding will flood,” the National Weather Service said. “Lives and property are in great danger through Monday.”

Flood watches are in effect for more than 25 million people from Southern California to northern Idaho. Strong and gusty winds are expected to persist across portions of the western US Monday, particularly in and near areas of higher terrain. All coastal tropical storm warnings have been discontinued.

“We are not used to this level of precipitation, generally – certainly not in the middle of summer,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told CNN on Sunday.

“With what we’re expecting, it may overwhelm us,” he added.

Flooding, mudslides and downed trees and wires already are widely reported across Southern California.

In Palm Springs, 911 lines were down Sunday night as roads turned into rivers. Vehicles hours earlier were seen driving through floodwaters, with their wheels completely submerged.

Once a hurricane, Hilary weakened as it made landfall in Mexico Sunday, where at least one person died, then it crossed over into the Golden State. The storm’s center was roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles around 8 p.m. local time Sunday, moving north with weakened 45 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.

While the storm has weakened significantly, it’s still battering California with extreme weather as it moves farther inland, bringing continued fears that floods and mudslides could potentially turn deadly.

Read more about Hilary as it brings life-threatening flooding and gusty winds to southern western US.

Heavy rainfall enhanced by leftover moisture from Hilary will douse portions of the northwestern US and southwestern Canada dealing with destructive fires.

Enough rainfall to cause flooding is expected to begin late Sunday across portions of Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Heavy rainfall will continue across these states and expand into Washington for Monday and southern British Columbia, Canada, Tuesday.

Heavy rain can be a double-edged sword for firefighters:

Tropical Storm Hilary has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone but “the ongoing and historic amount of rainfall” could still lead to life-threatening and catastrophic flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The powerful weather system crossed the US-Mexico border into California Sunday evening local time, becoming the first tropical storm in the state since Nora in 1997. 

The storm pushed into Southern California with fierce winds and heavy downpours as residents faced downed power lines and flooded streets.

Rescue workers have been called out in multiple locations, and while the storm has weakened significantly, it’s still battering California with extreme weather as it moves farther inland — adding to fears that floods and mudslides could turn deadly.

Here’s what you need to know: