California
\nA powerful hurricane Hilary \u2014 dubbed the worst storm in more than a decade \u2014 started to make its presence felt with heavy rains and strong winds in Mexico\u2019s Baja California peninsula and the southwestern part of the country Saturday triggering a warning from officials about \u201cdeadly and catastrophic flooding.
\nNancy Ward, director of the California Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services, said Hilary could be \u201cone of the worst storms to hit the state in more than a decade\u201d.
\n\u201cMake no mistake,\u201d she was quoted as saying by US media. \u201cThis is a very, very dangerous and significant storm.\u201d
\n\u201cThe storm had weakened Saturday from a powerful Category 4 to Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale \u2014 but was still regarded capable of \u201cextensive damage,\u201d the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
\nThe officials noted that conditions of hurricane Hilary were likely to persist along the Baja California coast through Sunday morning.
\nNHC noted: \u201cBy Saturday afternoon, Hilary was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kilometers per hour), with higher gusts.\u201d
\n\u201cHeavy rains were affecting portions of Baja California and the southwestern US, with catastrophic and life-threatening flooding likely,\u201d it stated.
\n\u201cThe center of Hilary will move close to the west-central coast of the Baja California Peninsula tonight and Sunday morning then move across southern California Sunday afternoon and Sunday night,\u201d the center remarked.
\nHeavy rainfalls and flooding are still possible with the storm expected to weaken to a tropical storm before reaching southern California and southern Nevada.
\nDangerous to catastrophic flooding
\nResidents and workers in the Mexican tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas have put up protective boarding and laid thousands of sandbags as large waves began crashing ashore.
\nMilitary personnel were seen patrolling the beach in the city, a popular destination for both Mexican and foreign tourists.
\nStreets in the town of Todos Santos, on the west coast of the peninsula, were largely deserted Saturday while the beach in nearby Cerritos was closed due to rough waves.
\n\u201cLast night we felt the wind picking up, it wasn\u2019t as strong as we were expecting but it still caused us to worry,\u201d said Marco Segura, a 57-year-old worker in Cerritos.
\nThe Mexican government deployed almost 19,000 soldiers in the states most affected by the storm, while the federal electric utility has sent 800 workers and hundreds of vehicles to deal with eventual outages.
\n\u201cIn the US, rainfall amounts of three to six inches, with isolated amounts of 10 inches, are expected across portions of southern California and southern Nevada,\u201d the NHC said.
\n\u201cDangerous to catastrophic flooding is expected.\u201d
\nThe US Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed teams to areas targeted by Hilary ahead of the storm, and President Joe Biden was receiving regular updates as he prepared to head to Hawaii to survey damage from a devastating wildfire.
\n\u201cHe has encouraged everyone to make sure that they are aware of what this dangerous storm is potentially going to bring and to listen to their local officials on the steps they can take to make sure that they are keeping safe,\u201d FEMA chief Deanne Criswell said.
\nMajor League Baseball and Major League Soccer have rescheduled games planned for Sunday in the US region.
\nHurricanes hit Mexico every year on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Although their remnants sometimes affect California, it is rare for cyclones to strike the state with tropical storm intensity.
\nScientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer with climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
California A powerful hurricane Hilary \u2014 dubbed the worst storm in more than a decade \u2014 started to make its presence felt with heavy rains and strong winds in Mexico\u2019s Baja California peninsula and the southwestern part of the country Saturday triggering a warning from officials about \u201cdeadly and catastrophic flooding. Nancy Ward, director of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-350575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n