Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

Climate and Environment

As Hurricane Hilary Approached, The Memes Landed Hard. Then Came The #Hurriquake

A satellite image of earth with swirling clouds moving towards a map of California.
Forecast for rain fall over the weekend- the NWS warns of Hurricane Hilary touching down on SoCal.
(
Courtesy NWS San Diego office.
)

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

Even as we were bracing for Hurricane Hilary to bear down on Southern California, all indications were that it would weaken to a tropical storm before landing. And it did.

If you're looking for a catch-all compendium of the things you needed to know to get ready for Hilary, go here.

If a deep-dive look at just how rare this weather event is for Southern California strikes your fancy, we got that here.

For latest news about the storm Monday, we have you covered here.

Support for LAist comes from

Oh, and in the middle of all of this we had an earthquake, seriously, generating even more memes (#hurriquake quickly beat our #earthcane, in case you wondered).

Now if you want memes, absurdity, a little bit of LOLs — stay put, because this is the post where we scour the internet so you don't have to.

The memes

A tropical storm landing in SoCal is a nearly once-in-a-century event. It's serious business, with areas across Southern California placed under a tropical storm watch.

It's new to so many of us here. But not to our friends in Florida, which brings us to the "look, people" memes:

Support for LAist comes from

Many of us took to social media to give voice to our anxieties and perseverance in the face of this rare August meteorological event. Behold the "me, during..." memes:

Support for LAist comes from

Did we already say that the last time a tropical storm hit California was in 1939? Below are the "dang, I've been prepping for the wrong natural disasters" memes:

And of course, a perennial in the genre, the "making fun of Angelenos complaining about the weather" meme:

Support for LAist comes from

Then, right as the storm was gaining intensity Sunday afternoon, an earthquake struck Ventura County near Ojai, spawning this:

#Hurriquake

Stay safe, everyone.

Updated August 21, 2023 at 6:22 AM PDT
This story was updated to reflect the storms arrival and current conditions.

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist