Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tropical storm Hilary hit the states of Baja California, in Mexico, and California, in the United States, on Sunday, causing strong winds and flooding on the Pacific coast.
The storm passed over southern California with record rainfall and flooding expected in Death Valley National Park.
Before that, it crossed the border with Mexico, where the Baja California peninsula experienced 120 km/h winds.
The storm made landfall in the northern part of the Mexican Baja California peninsula at 11:00 a.m. local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday, The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.
The last time a tropical storm made landfall in Southern California was in Long Beach in 1939.
Several houses were submerged in the city of Santa Rosalía, Mexico.
Dramatic videos show powerful torrents of muddy water cascading down the main street.
In Mexico, 18,000 soldiers have been deployed to help with the rescue efforts.
Across California, some 57,000 people in the state were without power, according to poweroutage.us.
And, in some places in that state, residents were forced to evacuate their homes.
Hilary will weaken as it moves north, but forecasters warn it could still lead to dangerous and catastrophic flooding.
“Areas that don’t normally experience flash flooding will inundate,” the National Weather Service said. “Lives and property are in great danger until Monday.”
Experts say that the recent freak weather events that have affected the US and various areas of the world have been influenced by climate change.
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