California’s massive clean-up after Tropical Storm Hilary underway, as crews dig out cars buried in mud and trapped residents are rescued in worst rainfall in nearly a century

Clearance operations in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Hilary are well underway in Southern California after historic heavy rainfall and damaging winds battered the region.

Cathedral City, in California’s Coachella Valley, has been one of the hardest hit areas, with residents armed with rubber boots and tools to clean up the thick mud left behind after the storm.

Officials worked tirelessly to clear mud and debris left behind by the unprecedented rainfall, which engulfed cars and flooded homes.

Rescue efforts to bring back those stranded during the unprecedented weather continue as footage emerges of elderly residents being carried to safety by large tractors.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said Monday the storm cell had lost much of its strength as it headed for the Rocky Mountains, but warned that “life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” could still be expected.

Cathedral City, in California’s Coachella Valley, has been one of the hardest hit areas, with residents armed with rubber boots and tools to clean up the thick mud left after the storm

Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years and sparked flood warnings and alerts in half a dozen states.

The threat of flooding in states farther north was highest in much of southeastern Oregon into the west-central mountains of Idaho, with the possibility of localized thunderstorms and torrential rain on Tuesday.

Heading east into Nevada, flooding, power outages and boil water warnings have been issued for the nearly 400 homes in Mount Charleston, about 40 miles west of Las Vegas, where the only way in and out had been washed away.

Hilary first raged as a hurricane on Mexico’s arid Baja California peninsula, killing one person and causing widespread flooding before weakening to a tropical storm and moving northward.

Hilary flooded the streets on Monday, tore down power lines and caused mudslides across Southern California after she unleashed record-breaking downpours overnight, but so far no deaths have been recorded in the U.S. related to the storm.

The weather system dumped 4 to 5 inches of rain in the coastal areas and 25 inches or more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Thompson told Reuters.

In areas more accustomed to drought, flash floods swept through desert plains and gorges, washing away roads.

Rain clouds gave way to clear skies Monday as the storm moved north.

Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years and sparked flood warnings and alerts in half a dozen states. An American flag can be seen submerged in the water

The weather system dumped 4 to 5 inches of rain in the coastal areas and 25 inches or more in the mountains, said National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Thompson, clearly visible by the large puddles of water left behind.

But the storm was still terrifying for Ronald Mendiola, whose family of five, including a 2-year-old, took refuge on the roof of their home in the desert town of Cathedral City when the bottom floor flooded to their waists shortly after midnight before the storm hit. adults.

“The roof was our best choice for shelter. There are five of us with a two-and-a-half-year-old baby,” Mendiola told the paper, trudging through the knee-deep mud in his neighborhood after the storm passed.

“We were brought to safety because a Good Samaritan came by and picked us up. All five from the roof.’

Remnants of Hilary were expected to cause heavy rains in Nevada and Utah and in the Northwest, where more than 4 million people remained under threat of flooding through Monday evening, the agency said.

“Fortunately, the Californians listened to their local officials and took the necessary preparedness measures to help protect themselves and their families,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The storm caused flash flooding in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles and inundated the more densely populated coastal areas of Ventura County northwest of the city. Inland desert towns around the resort town of Palm Springs were also walled.

In Cathedral City, a neighbor of Palm Springs about 125 miles east of Los Angeles, people raked up debris Monday and assessed the damage after water rose thigh high in some areas, witnesses said.

“Who has flood insurance in a desert?” said Nancy Ross, a resident of the Canyon Mobile Home in Cathedral City, where several homes suffered flood damage.

Ross told local reporters she was “very worried” during the storm because “the storm was flowing like a river.”

In Cathedral City, a neighbor of Palm Springs about 125 miles east of Los Angeles, people raked up debris Monday and assessed damage after water rose to thigh-high in some areas.

Record rains for the August 20 date fell in Southern California on Sunday in places like downtown Los Angeles and at airports in Burbank and Santa Barbara, the weather service reported.

In the middle of the storm on Sunday, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake also struck north of Los Angeles, generating the meme #hurriquake on social media.

Videos began circulating online of a woman capturing the moment as she lay in the pool with a man, and another showed a wine seller losing hundreds of bottles falling to the ground during the quake.

In September 1939, a tropical storm swept across California for the last time, tearing up train tracks, tearing houses from their foundations, and capsizing many boats. Nearly 100 people were killed on land and at sea.

South Texas also prepared for the arrival of a separate tropical system that was expected to bring much-needed rain but also possible flooding.

The National Hurricane Center said tropical storm conditions could arrive early Tuesday in coastal areas, including near the U.S.-Mexico border, where some residents packed sandbags in preparation.