Flooding in ‘Cut off’ Palm Springs as Hilary Passes Through: Trapped Cars, Roads Washed Away

Hannah Knudsen

Cars were trapped and parts of the road washed away in Palm Springs as Tropical Storm Hilary swept through, triggering mass flooding and mudslides.

“Life-threatening and locally catastrophic flash flooding is expected this evening across southern California as Tropical Storm Hilary advances north and brings and produces very heavy rainfall total,” the National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday night, previewing heavy rains and flash flooding.

The storm, which made landfall on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Sunday, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone but resulted in mass power outages and flooding across Southern California. Over 45,500 customers were without power across the state as of 1 p.m. Eastern, per Poweroutage.us. Over 10,000 of those outages are in Los Angeles County.

“The first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, Hilary dropped more than half an average year’s worth of rain on some areas, including Palm Springs, which saw nearly 3.18 inches (8 centimeters) of rain by Sunday evening,” Breitbart News reported.

Indeed, some of the most shocking post-storm images are coming from Palm County, which experienced severe flooding.

“That’s our biggest concern, is once this rain starts to come down off the mountain will we continuously have some flooding on our streets,” Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner told the Weather Channel on Sunday evening.

The Weather Channel added that Palm Springs, which averages 4.61 inches of rain per year, reached 2.27 inches of rain over a six-hour period. The Daily Mail is reporting that Palm Springs is actually “cut off,” with people trapped in their homes and unable to call 911.

Cathedral City, California Fire Chief Michael Contreras told CNN that some residents remained “trapped” in their homes due to flooding, debris flow, and mud, as well.

“Now, we are going to go house-to-house and making sure that the people who want to get out can get out … Right now, they are trapped for all intents and purposes,” he revealed.

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