Storm Hilary heads for northern Mexico, California

Miami, US, Aug 19 (EFE).- Northern Mexico and southern California were braced Saturday for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary, which is expected to make landfall in the coming hours.

The category 3 storm, which Saturday brought sustained winds of up to 205 kilometers (127 miles) per hour, is expected to reach the northern Mexican coast in Baja California in the early hours of Sunday, Mexico’s National Weather Service (SMN) said.

The hurricane, which emerged in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday as a tropical storm, was heading north-northwest at a speed of 26 kilometers per hour, according to the SMN, which warned of “intense” and “very strong” rain across northern Mexico.

It is then expected to move up the coast into southern California in the United States throughout Sunday afternoon and into the evening, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, warning that the storm could cause “catastrophic flooding” through Monday.

Sporting events in California, including professional baseball and soccer matches, have been postponed and several airports were on alert because of the storm.

National parks such as Death Valley and Mojave have also been closed as an emergency measure.

Authorities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties were distributing sandbags and urging the population to take the necessary precautions.

The tropical storm would be the first to hit California in over 80 years, local media reported. EFE

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