Downgraded to Tropical Storm, Hilary Brings Flooding, Poor Road Conditions To SoCal

Recovery following the landfall of Tropical Storm Hilary in Southern California during the weekend began on Monday, with many cities such as Palm Springs still being largely cut off because of flooding and poor road conditions caused by the storm.

The first tropical Storm watch ever for California was issued on Friday, as then Hurricane Hilary began peaking as a Category 4 hurricane off the coast of Baja California. Most of Southern California began bracing for the storm, with many areas warning of likely flooding and a years worth of rain to fall in a day. Everything from universities to sporting events to museums announced that they would be closed through Monday, with airports cancelling thousands of flights. On the 19th, before the storm hit, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an emergency declaration, with Governor Gavin Newsom preemptively calling a State of Emergency and activating the State Operations Center at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) in response.

“California has thousands of people on the ground working hand-in-hand with federal and local personnel to support communities in Hurricane Hilary’s path with resources, equipment and expertise,” said Newsom. “We’re mobilizing all of government as we prepare and respond to this unprecedented storm.”

Throughout the late hours on Saturday, all day Sunday, and the early hours on Monday, rain continuously fell throughout the Southern part of the state. While many parts only received several inches of rain, with San Diego having their rainiest August day on record, others experienced high winds and flooding. Desert areas in Southeastern California, not used to having major storm levels of rain fall in less than two days time, were particularly affected by the storm. Parts of Interstate 8, Interstate 10, and Interstate 15 were closed temporarily because of flooding and landslides, making travel in the area difficult.

Despite many areas beginning to reopen on Monday, Palm Springs has largely remained shut down as of Monday. 911 lines in the city, as well as surrounding areas such as Indio and Cathedral City, have remained down, with all roads in and out continuing to remain inaccessible because of half a years worth of rain falling in only a few hours. Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner highlighted the dire situation the city was in during a press conference on Monday, saying that “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.”

Cathedral City Fire Chief Michael Contreras added, “Firefighters will be going house to house to make sure that people who want to get out can leave. Right now, they are trapped for all intents and purposes. If you don’t need to get out, give us time to clear the streets before attempting to leave.”

After Tropical Storm Hilary

Local residents, unable to leave the area because of the conditions, expressed frustration on Monday over the situation.

“We expected a lot of people to be scared, but many, as it has turned out, are actually more, that word, frustrated,” said Luis, an emergency worker in Palm Springs, to the Globe on Monday. “All most have been able to do is survey damage in their immediate vicinity. A lot of the roads have been washed out, so they can’t travel. Most places aren’t open anyway, so its not like they are missing out on much. Keeping people in their homes for everything but them being in danger or in case of an emergency has been a priority, but a lot of people aren’t happy about it. You know, its not safe, and we need roads open for emergency workers and services like ambulances. People get that. They just aren’t happy.”

With storms clearing up on Monday, recovery has begun in many areas that were affected by the storm. Many areas of Southern California, which were simply drenched in rain, continued on business as usual on Monday as conditions normalized.

While the storms destruction is still being felt on Monday, some positive news on the rainfall has come out. Reservoirs in Southern California, beginning to dip down from the high water levels set by the storms from January and March, began to fill up again because of the rare August storm. Areas with wildfires are getting an unexpected water dousing from the storm, with the lingering dampness in many areas likely to halt any new wildfires from starting for awhile.

And drought conditions, which had been severe or worse for much of the state at the beginning of the year, largely relieved by the January and March storms, are also likely to get even better as well. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the only remaining parts of the state still experiencing a severe drought as of last week  were in the Southeastern part. With the heavy rainfall over the weekend, it is expected that California will be virtually drought-free for the first time in years this week because of Hilary.

“All this flooding and damage that the tropical storm caused, its plain awful,” said Jack Wesley, a water systems consultant for farms and multi-family homes. “But it also is putting in the final nail in the coffin for any doubt that 2023 is a non-drought year in California. We had a bad past few years, but we have just gotten so much rain this year, so much unexpected rain, that saying we’re still in a drought right now is just wrong.

“I have clients in LA with ducks swimming in their backyard right now who would really beg to differ.”

More announcements on the flood and debris situation in Palm Springs and other highly affected areas are expected later today.