San Diego residents prep for Hurricane Hilary, now a tropical storm
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Millions of people on the West Coast are bracing for a once in a lifetime storm: Hurricane Hilary, the first tropical system to hit the area in nearly a century.
While Hilary has been downgraded to a category one hurricane, and may hit Southern California as a tropical storm, there are still many concerns about all the rain and wind and how the region can cope with it.
Residents in San Diego are preparing for the worst, with city leaders taking an all-hands on deck approach to keeping their city safe as the storm passes.
"Water, nervousness and anxious," said Marisa Mosquera, a resident of San Diego.
Hilary is on the mind of many San Diegans.
"Our garage floods even when there's a tiny sprinkle or a little rain so with a hurricane coming I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" Mosquera explained.
Small steps are key
Mosquera is following the advice of local leaders like San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on the importance of preparation.
"We haven't had a hurricane here in 100 years," Mayor Gloria remarked.
The small steps are key.
"I'm encouraging San Diegans to take proactive steps and make sure water has a place to get to the drain. Let's secure loose items around your property. Take additional steps to charge your phone and your car and other things in preparation of a blackout," Gloria detailed.
All hands on deck
San Diego's winter storms prepared the community for Hilary.
"It is an all-hands-on deck approach. This is something that we've got a lot of practice doing over this most recent winter that featured so many storms but obviously we have not experienced something like Hilary in this community for a very very long time," Garcia spoke.
All hands were on deck in Mosquera's home as well.
Some people mentioned that they have been filling sandbags up because they believe it is their last line of defense.
Keeping a close eye
"Just hunkering down and...making sure everything is set and...cooking dinner already tonight and filling the sandbags and going to get ice. Just in case we lose power," Mosquera remarked.
Gloria says they will keep a close eye on flood prone areas.
"Areas of Mission Valley that are frequently the sites of flooding we absolutely anticipate that happening again because of the amount of rain that's predicted so some of those key roads in the Mission Valley area that flood every single time you and I know it's going to happen so we want folks to avoid it and other areas of concern are the Tijuana River Valley and some of the older communities that have outdated infrastructure," Gloria further detailed.
Gloria also says he hopes things will be back to normal on Monday, but there is a chance San Diego will feel the effects of Hilary in the days and weeks ahead.
