Weather

Mexico, California brace for Hurricane Hilary

Mexico City/Los Angeles, Aug 18 (EFE).- Northern Mexico and Southern California were preparing Friday for the landfall of Hurricane Hilary, a tropical storm that is expected to dump a large amount of rain and cause evacuations.

The Mexican government deployed almost 19,000 Armed Forces members on Friday in response to the advance of Hurricane Hilary, which could make landfall this weekend in the Baja California peninsula.

“There are 18.738 soldiers in a preventive attitude, community kitchens, machinery, equipment, everything,” said Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

In the latest National Meteorological Service (SMN) warning, Hilary was 640 kilometers (398 miles) south of Cabo San Lucas, northern Mexico’s most popular tourist destination.

The phenomenon, which emerged Wednesday as a tropical storm, is advancing with winds of 230 km per hour and gusts of 280 km per hour.

“We are monitoring the Pacific hurricane, and the authorities are already in preventive activity, the Army with the plan for emergency attention. Today we were briefed with everything they are doing regarding mobilization of men and equipment,” the president added.

Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) and the US National Hurricane Center have activated the emergency protocol in the affected area in a coordinated effort.

The California Department of Health has asked residents in the southern part of the state to prepare for evacuations due to the risk of flooding and mudslides.

“We are holding coordination calls with all the counties in the area. We are prepared with our state operation center for any and any disaster in the area,” said Sherri Sarri, Assistant Director for Response for the California’s Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

The NHC continues to monitor the path of Hurricane Hilary, which could still degrade from tropical storm status before making landfall in the US. EFE

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