Hurricane Hillary headed toward Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Saturday, bringing heavy rain to the region amid warnings of devastating and deadly flooding across the peninsula and the US southwest, a US government agency said.
One person died in Baja California Sur state after a family of five was swept into the sea while crossing a stream, according to a Mexican official, who also shared photos of flooded and washed-out roads in the area.
In the United States, the storm was disrupting flights and sports games.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm is weakening as it moves toward the west-central coast of the peninsula Saturday evening. It predicted that it would lose more strength and degenerate into a tropical storm on Sunday as it headed toward southern California.
But dangerous rain and coastal storm surges remain a major concern, the NHC said, with up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain expected in some areas of Baja California and California.
“Locally devastating flash and urban flooding is expected, especially in northern parts of the peninsula,” the Miami-based agency said in its latest advisory.