If you live in California, or specifically Southern California, you have most likely heard about Hurricane Hilary. Hurricane Hilary was formed in the Pacific ocean near Southern Mexico, on August 16th. It was labeled as a category four Pacific hurricane. The hurricane built up very quickly and proved itself to be brutal in the seas and Southern Mexico. As it made its way to California it dramatically decreased in severity, turning into a tropical storm. This storm made its first impact in SoCal on August 18th and dissipated August 22nd.
Hurricanes are typically very violent and powerful storms. They send huge winds up to 74 mph and lots of heavy rain. However this was not exactly the case for Southern California. Although SoCal did experience the wind and rain, it was not as violent and extreme as the news made it out to be. People all over Southern California were stressed out, preparing for this “brutal storm” that in reality wasn’t as big of an issue as the media painted it to be.
Residents around Southern California prepared for this storm a bit like Floridians. Selling out sandbags, toilet paper, emergency food and water supplies, flashlights, and candles. And unshockingly, most of this went to waste. Some citizens however did put these items to good use, as a few cities experienced mudslides and flash floods.
Nonetheless some areas in Southern California were more heavily affected than others. San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Victorville, and Mount Laguna got the worst of the hurricane’s impact, to name a few. These cities had some major flash floods and that damaged many communities. The aftermath of the flash floods left them with plenty of mud and debris everywhere.
Clean up crews worked effectively to clear mud and debris in the affected areas. Clearing roads and moving toppled trees, the crews worked tirelessly for over 24 hours. Residents of the areas also helped take part in cleaning. The damage left by hurricane Hilary was estimated at more than $126 million.
Hurricane Hilary definitely made history, being the first ever serious tropical storm warning for Southern California. The first ever hurricane to even come close to California was the 1858 San Diego Hurricane. After that catastrophic storm, only two other tropical storms hit California, one of them in 1939, near Long Beach. Then the other, being Hurricane Hilary, which was technically labeled as a tropical storm.
While Hurricane Hillary was certainly overly dramatized, there was one death believed to be caused by the hurricane. Although, this fatality did occur in Southern Mexico. Luckily for us Californians, we endured no fatalities as the hurricane ran its course.
