LA Hurricane Hilary: 'Hunker down' & 'Stay off the roads,' National Weather Service warns SoCal residents
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The National Weather Service held a press conference on Friday afternoon to provide updates on Hurricane Hilary and the tropical storm's impact on Southern California.
According to the NWS, Southern California is at a moderate to high risk for flash floods. Heavy rainfall of approximately four inches is expected from Los Angeles County up to Ventura County. Between 12 and 15 hours of steady rainfall is expected beginning early Sunday morning, according to officials. As of this latest report, it is likely that Sunday we'll experience the most amount of rainfall.
SoCal residents should be prepared for power outages, downed trees and damage to structures due to these high wind speeds, according to officials.
The NWS expects the highest amount of rainfall to hit LA and Ventura Counties, with LA County at the highest risk for flash floods.
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There is a particular concern for Catalina Island and Long Beach areas, as well as desert and mountain areas, due to high tides and flash floods.
"Particularly avoid traveling in the desert and mountains on Sunday and Monday," said the NWS in the press conference. "These make for very dangerous situations due to flooding."
The NWS confirmed that wind speeds could reach up to 120 mph in LA County, and described the experience to be similar to a "Santa Ana wind event." High wind speeds are expected to impact all of Southern California and will likely start early Sunday morning and last through Monday morning, officials said.
At this time the Flood Watch has not been extended north of Ventura County.
"Hunker down and take it easy for Sunday and Monday," the NWS advised. "Stay off the roads."