From downed eucalyptus trees to flooded deserts: Photos of Hilary, an unusual SoCal tropical storm
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Tuesday, August 22, 2023
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From downed eucalyptus trees to flooded deserts: Photos of Hilary, an unusual SoCal tropical stormA person pushes a cart on a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary heads north near Palm Springs, California, on Aug. 20, 2023.
David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Downed Eucalyptus trees. Flooded desert resort cities. Umbrella-clenching tourists.
Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, created very unusual sites throughout a region accustomed to dry and sunny weather.
One photograph taken near Palm Springs shows a stretch of road caked in floodwaters and mud. Another shows cars trapped in the mud that consumed Cathedral City streets, and over in the San Fernando Valley, vehicles were seen partially submerged on the Golden State Freeway.
Trees were knocked down into homes and cars -- luckily, no one was injured. Maura Taura told the Associated Press a three-story-tall tree crashed down on her daughter's two cars but missed the family's house in the Sun Valley.
"Thank God my family is OK," she said.
Still, some managed to make light of the gloomy day. Tourists geared up in ponchos to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and down in Carlsbad, surfers used boards attached to bikes to skim across fully soaked lawns.