How Did LA Weather The Tropical Storm?

While Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Hilary didn't pack the anticipated punch over the weekend, it did dump a lot of rain (plus there was a quake). So, how did our region make it through?

Why it matters

Forecasters say Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years and though it (thankfully) didn’t dazzle storm lovers out there, there was a lot of flooding throughout the region, especially in the mountains and desert regions and some damage to buildings and roadways. There will be a lot of cleanup to do in some areas.

The roundup

How To LA podcast host Brian De Los Santos spoke with three of our colleagues — Jacob Margolis, Erin Stone and Nick Gerda — about how the region's officials responded to the storm’s worst hit areas and the region’s most vulnerable Angelenos. Here are the takeaways:

Jacob Margolis, LAist science reporter, says the Southern California mountains, foothills and deserts were affected the most by the tropical storm. The Antelope Valley, he says, got hit the hardest because a lot of water was running off the San Gabriels.

The expectation was that it could be a lot worse, based on alarms sounded by meteorologists and county officials. Jacob called the National Weather Service to ask: Why were they making this a big deal? Forecasters explained to him that because a significant amount of rainfall covered a large 100-plus-mile area (rather than an atmospheric river, where rainfall covers a shorter distance), they had to take it seriously. At the end of the day, Jacob says it was reasonable for officials to make the call to hunker down.

“The problem is if you have more people out there, getting caught in the water, then you have more rescues that have to go on, you have potentially injuries and deaths and you're putting emergency responders in harm's way,” Jacob says.

Erin Stone, climate emergency reporter, spoke with Brian from Palm Springs, which is one of the desert cities that has to deal with intense flooding from heavy rainfalls. On Sunday, the region had more than half a year’s worth of rain, Erin reports. Some residents in the Coachella Valley had to evacuate.

“There's some serious mud flow and flooding in basically all the areas they expected to flood,” Erin says, noting the desert is more prone to flooding because of the soil. "These cities are just not prepared for this amount of rain."

There were dozens of rescues.

Nick Gerda, unhoused communities reporter, spoke with Brian about how the city leaders responded to the storm and provided resources for unhoused Angelenos.

“A lot of the notice about shelters didn't go out until the storm was already well underway, despite all these days of advanced warnings that officials had,” Nick says.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass told residents to stay indoors and stay safe, but the over 30,000 people living on city streets don’t have that privilege, says Nick. City officials told him they reached out to people in riverbeds and places where vulnerable people are living outdoors in potentially dangerous areas.

“But as we saw a lot of the communication about specific shelter beds — and where those were available — didn't come until much later,” Nick says.

Listen to the conversation

Go deeper

• A Magnitude-5.1 Earthquake Hits Ventura County As Hilary Storm Intensifies 
• Palm Springs And Coachella Valley Work To Clean Up After Tropical Storm Hilary Brings Floods, Damage 
• Hilary Lands: Here’s What We Know So Far
• Do We Have To Worry About Hurricanes In SoCal Now? A Hurricane Hilary FAQ
• Big, Dangerous Surf Expected At SoCal Beaches As Tropical Storm Hilary Makes Land
• Palm Springs Prepares And Waits For Hilary’s Deluge