Tropical Story Hilary: Portions of Riverside County flooded; residents asked to stay indoors
Tropical Storm Hilary has packed quite a punch in Riverside County today, dumping heavy rain over a vast area and causing severe flooding in parts of the Coachella Valley.
Read More: Live Tropical Storm Hilary Updates
The city of Palm Springs issued a local emergency declaration Sunday afternoon as downpours from the storm inundated roadways and led to wide-scale closures of roads. The city of Indio followed suit late Sunday night, saying the storm has "threatened local infrastructure and public health and safety."
Nearby Palm Desert also reported an array of road closures due to flooding. A stretch of Interstate 10 was closed in both directions in the area Sunday evening due to flooding.
Video from other cities in the area showed cars swamped with floodwater, but there were no immediate reports of injuries associated with the storm.
Hilary brought rain to the county well ahead of the storm even making landfall in Southern California. But once it did reach land, the rain intensified and storm conditions worsened. National Weather Service forecasters warned residents that potentially dangerous flooding was likely, and there was even a slight chance of tornadoes developing in the area.
Hilary weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm early Sunday, and it made landfall near San Diego late Sunday afternoon. The NWS warned of "potentially historic amounts of rainfall" that was "expected to cause life-threatening to locally catastrophic flash, urban and arroyo flooding including landslides, mudslides, and debris flows through early Monday morning."
A flood watch will be in effect until late Monday night for Riverside County mountains, the Coachella Valley and the San Gorgonio Pass near Banning.
The watch will expire at 5 a.m. Monday in Riverside County valleys. A more serious flash flood warning had been in place for most of Riverside and San Bernardino counties earlier in the day, but it was allowed to expire at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
An evacuation order was issued on Sunday around 9 a.m. for the Mias zone in the Apple/El Dorado burn scar, north of Banning and near the Morongo
Reservation, according to the Riverside County Emergency Management Department. A voluntary evacuation warning was issued for Highland Springs, Beaumont, Hemet, Banning and Reche Canyon Road in Colton ahead of the storm, according to the EMD.
The storm was slowly moving through the north and was expected to be clear of the area by Monday morning, although showers could continue through the day, forecasters said.
All College of the Desert sites in Palm Desert will be closed Monday due to the storm. The college announced on social media that "Tropical Storm Hilary has flooded the area, including some campus facilities."
No business will be conducted at any of the locations except for maintenance and campus safety, officials said.
In the Coachella Valley, several cities, including Palm Springs, which recorded 3 inches of rain Sunday, reported that 911 services were down. Part of Interstate 10, which cuts through the valley west of Joshua National Tree National Park, were closed because of flooding and debris, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a State of Emergency for much of Southern California to support the Hilary response and recovery efforts as the state continues mobilizing and coordinating resources ahead of the storm's forecasted impacts.
The governor signed an emergency proclamation Saturday in San Diego while visiting with California National Guard troops. He met with first responders and local officials, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. He was also in touch with federal officials, including the White House.
On Sunday morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pre- positioned supplies at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, and a FEMA Incident Management Assistance Team deployed to the California Office of Emergency Services and was prepared to assist with any requests for federal assistance.
Additional teams were on standby for deployment if necessary, officials said. Care and reception centers were available at Desert Mirage High School at 86150 66th Ave. in Thermal and at the Banning Community Services Center at 789 N. San Gorgonio Ave. in Banning, both open 24 hours. Residents requiring help with their animals were encouraged to call the Riverside County Department of Animal Services at 951-358-7387.
A tropical storm has not landed in Southern California since 1939.
