#Tropical Storm Hilary

[theaologies]

spinning my chair around and sitting in it backwards: GOOOOOD MORNING CLASS

FIRST AND FOREMOST: this is not a panic post. It’s an informational preparedness post. Don’t panic. Just be prepared for this like you’d be prepared for an earthquake but you know it’s coming and it’s wet.

I’m 30, lived in Central Florida for the first 26 years of my life, and have experienced more hurricanes and tropical storms than you can imagine. Never in my life did I think I would have to discuss HURRICANE SAFETY again after moving to LOS ANGELES from FLORIDA and yet HERE WE ARE-

(This information is accurate as of 8/17 at 9am PST)

SO models are still early but it seems like as of last night, Pacific Hurricane Hilary is rapidly intensified AND has shifted its track pretty severely inland. Originally SoCal was predicted to get some bands off the coast but this does NOT seem to be the case anymore

As our good friend Jim Cantore mentioned above, if Hilary DOES make landfall in SoCal, it will be the first tropical storm to do so since 1939. Fucking yikes.

THE GOOD NEWS:

It isn’t looking like Hilary will make landfall anywhere as a strong hurricane. If it makes landfall in central Baja it looks like it’ll be a Cat 2 which isn’t great but still- better than the Cat 5 it’s currently strengthening to.

As for SoCal, we’re not predicted to get anything over a Tropical Storm. And mountains tear up tropical cyclones like crazy. It’ll (probably) be weak and, wind wise, no worse than the Santa Ana’s

THE BAD NEWS:

Our Cone of Uncertainty is currently pretty wide- this fluctuation matters as it determines which side of the storm hits us. Is this significant? Yes. The right side of a Hurricane is considered the “dirty” side- it’s the side that is most likely to produce severe weather, such as severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. It’s still too early to determine what side will affect us the most but it’s something to keep in mind.

Also, I can’t speak for the rest of SoCal, but I would not bet on the LA infrastructure doing well even with a weak tropical storm. Which is why I have brought you here today, to run down the IMPORTANT HURRICANE CHECKLIST

NOTE: I made this several years ago for FLORIDA so not all of it will be accurate to SoCal. Most of us live in apartments and have no say over tree trimmings and the likes. If the storm is feeling like it’s going to get bad, I would recommend moving important things and electronics away from windows and hanging out in areas of the apartment that have the least amount of windows. I don’t think boarding up windows or anything will be necessary but here’s information if you need/want it

ANOTHER NOTE: if you have the means, please check up on your unhoused neighbors and immediate community groups that do so, as well. As always, they will be the ones most affected by severe weather. Tarps, anything that rises up off the ground, waterproof bags, etc would be good to grab for them. I am not an expert here and would recommend following the lead of your community groups that work with your unhoused neighbors to find out what will be needed most.

I don’t at all think we’ll see any shutdowns so if the rain does get bad be prepared for dangerous driving conditions. I know it’s dangerous to drive any time it rains in LA but, you know. The Weather Channel isn’t predicting a TON of rain at the moment (for LA) but, just like our winter/spring this year, be on the look out for flash floods.

And again, this is all JUST IN CASE. It’s better to be prepared than not. SoCal’s infrastructure is not at all prepared to handle a tropical event so who knows! Anything is possible. If I was in Florida I wouldn’t at all be worrying about this but I’m not anymore and our wet winter absolutely fucked our roads in LA so I’d rather everyone be safe than sorry.

I’m sure it’ll all be fine and now you just have more safety information, which is never bad! Because frankly climate change is very real and I would not be surprised to see this happening more and more in the coming years. And it does have me worrying that El Niño this year is going to be worse than we imagined.

[little-catholic-diva]

Ok I'm in central Cali and not even near the hurricane but right now we're literally having hurricane strength winds and thunderstorms and I can't even imagine what it's like in SoCal right now. I know you all hate us but please pray. This is scary.

[chernobog13]

WHAT A DAY!

So, in case you haven't heard on the news, Southern California is getting hit today with its first tropical storm in, like, forever.

And we just had a 5.1-magnitude earthquake about an hour ago.

Now I'm just waiting for this guy to show up to complete the trifecta.

[doomspaniels]

Waiting to hear from the West Coast after the storm like

[lokittystuckinatree]

Mother Nature is playing with SoCal like a sadistic City Skylines streamer plays with the natural disaster generator

[thelesbianthespianposts]

Can people stop spreading misleading info on hurricane Hillary. It’s a category 4 now but once it reaches cali it will have died down quite a bit. I’ve lived on the east coast my whole life and while I do not live in a very hurricane filled zone, I’ve still been through a few.

your main enemy is the rain. Wind can be scary and the likelihood of branches falling are high but floods can be just as harmful. See if you can secure your basement if you’re in a high risk zone.

Do. Not. Panic. Move your car to a higher area if you think it’s necessary. In case you do have to evacuate do not drive through the water if possible or choose the least flooded path.

In case the power goes out, make sure you have battery powered flashlights and enough non-perishable food on hand.

[rrdcooc]

Guess who has two thumbs and just bought 300 ponchos on Amazon and is going to deliver them to the picket line Monday morning in the middle of the first tropical storm to hit California since 1939. 😎

[eljd2r2]

[macmanx]

Southern California has been experiencing some extreme weather in recent years. We're doing our best to make sense of terms and guidance that can be confusing in already stressful moments.

[memenewsdotcom]

Tropical Storm Hilary makes landfall

[alteredstatesstuff]

bad night

[mountainmaven]

A little Southwestern Azure Butterfly bringing hope to our badly damaged mountain.

Our neighborhood did get power back around 10:30 last night. And phone services again. No word yet on the water situation (we're still boiling water and/or using bottled). But neighborhoods higher up the mountain have no water at all. About 50 households were evacuated yesterday.

I'm learning what a wonderful community we have up here.

Also so grateful for our public services and those who serve us around the clock. The energy company worked literally all day to get us back up with power yesterday and they were prepared to work through the night to get us up and running by this morning had it not happened last night.

Our Fire Dept. Metro police. FEMA. National Guard. Energy Company. Water District. DOT. The Forest Service.

Sadly, my little library up here is not okay and will be closed until at least mid Sept. 😭

Hubby of course is traveling for work again but the neighbors have all been there for each other and that's been really wonderful.

[lastoneout]

Been helping my fiance get the house ready for any potential flooding/power outages due to Hilary and he looked at me and was like "wow you're really good at this, like you know all the stuff to do" and I was like "haha thanks! it's bcs I grew up in a place with loads of tornados and floods, plus years of coping with my debilitating anxiety by learning everything I can about what to do in disaster situations" cuz like, that thing about anxious people being better in catastrophes might not true for all of us, but it sure as shit is true for me.

[areacodefan]

So I’m currently one of the zillions of people under a tropical storm warning in Southern California — the first event of its kind in LA in like a hundred years. Climate change strikes again.

There will be extreme heavy rain and wind. There will likely be dangerous flooding in areas and, unfortunately, mudslides. These things are significant and should be taken quite seriously.

Different areas of this VAST expanse called Los Angeles (and the rest of the region) will experience different things. My sister is at the coast and she could be dealing with quite a lot more than inland residents.

But JFC I’m so annoyed by the Chicken Little shit I’m getting from my apartment building managers in the San Fernando VALLEY. I really don’t need to be warned in three separate memos within 24 hours about airborne lawn furniture in North Fucking Hollywood. I don’t plan to go out for a stroll in the torrential rain and wind. 🙄

[lokittystuckinatree]

Something something Barbenheimer Hurriquake

[tyanis]

Not gonna say exactly where I live.

All I'm gonna say is that I'm gonna be getting some rain...