Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico’s Baja California on Saturday as a downgraded Category 2 storm that the U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted will bring “catastrophic” flooding for the peninsula and for the southwestern United States, where it was forecast to cross the border as a tropical storm.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Make no mistake, this is a very, very dangerous and significant storm.
00:07 Heavy rainfall, strong winds associated with this storm began today already and will be
00:13 felt well beyond the center of the storm entering California.
00:17 Safety, that's our highest priority at Caltrans.
00:20 It's my biggest concern for you, your families, and your loved ones.
00:25 We want to ensure that you are safe through this entire event.
00:29 If you do not need to be on the roadways, we are asking you to postpone any of your
00:35 non-essential travel until the peak of the storm passes.
00:40 If you must travel and you encounter water flowing across the roadways, do not attempt
00:47 to drive through it.
00:48 It takes just a very limited amount of water to wash a vehicle away.
00:54 With potentially dangerous weather conditions on the horizon, including high winds and flooding,
00:59 power outages, mudslides, it's important to take this opportunity for people to make the
01:04 necessary steps to be safe.
01:06 This is not a time to be complacent.
01:08 It's a time to take the steps to keep yourself safe and your family safe.
01:12 Our recommendation to you is this, if you don't need to travel and you're impacted,
01:16 you're living in an area that's impacted by Hurricane Hillary, please stay off the road.
01:21 Stay home and be safe.
01:22 However, if you need to travel, it's absolutely necessary, we're going to ask that you be
01:27 vigilant, be aware of your surroundings, watching out for mudslides, downed trees, flooding,
01:35 the sustained high winds.
01:36 Those are all concerns to us.
01:38 But if you need to travel, please do so safely.
01:41 We are in a position where we are prepared to support our communities and our partners.
01:46 Your California National Guard Service members are very well trained, very well, highly experienced
01:52 at these types of support operations.
01:55 More specifically in this case, we have pre-positioned 22 high water vehicles to support where the
02:01 need may arise.
02:03 In addition, we also have other capabilities, soldiers, airmen who are standing by and will
02:09 be prepared to respond as the need arises.
02:13 So please rest assured that your California National Guard is ready and is available to
02:18 support our partners and communities.