Tropical Storm Franklin makes landfall with major flood threats to Dominican Republic and Haiti

Tropical Storm Franklin brings torrential rain to Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday

Crews work to clear mud and debris from California roads after Storm Hilary

Tropical Storm Franklin was moving inland from the southern coast of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, bringing torrential rains to the country and neighboring Haiti.

Tropical Storm Harold, which had formed only hours before Franklin, was downgraded to a depression after making landfall in south Texas on Tuesday. The system has since crossed into northern Mexico where it was threatening the region with heavy rains.

The cyclones, which scientists say are being supercharged by the impacts of the climate crisis, are part of a record-breaking pattern unfolding in the Atlantic.

Aside from Harold and Franklin, two other systems formed in the Atlantic - Emily and Gert - in 39 hours, making it the fastest time on record for four named Atlantic storm formations, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University Meteorologist.

This weekend, Tropical Storm Hilary wreaked havoc across Mexico, California and Nevada. Hilary, which caused one death in Mexico, was the first tropical storm to hit California in almost a century and deluged cities including Los Angeles and San Diego, leading to widespread flooding and mudslides.

Key points

• Storm Hilary brings a year’s worth of rain to Death Valley
• Storm Hilary to batter Oregon and Idaho after flooding California
• Texas braces for flooding as Tropical Storm Harold barrels towards state
• Rescuers drive bulldozer through mud to reach senior citizens stuck in California care home

[22 August 2023 01:30 · Gustaf Kilander]

Bill Nye: ‘If you like to worry about things, this is a great time'

[22 August 2023 02:15 · Hayden Vernon]

VIDEO: Cars drive through floodwater after Tropical Storm Hilary makes landfall in California

Footage shows cars driving through floods after Tropical Storm Hilary hit California.

The video, posted to Snapchat, shows cars navigating floodwater after torrential rains in the city of Coachella.

Southern California faced its its first tropical storm in 84 years, with the threat of flooding, blackouts, high winds and tornadoes.

Millions of Americans were under flood and high-wind warnings as the storm moved north, unleashing heavy rains from the California-Mexico border to Las Vegas and beyond.

[22 August 2023 03:00 · Tom Campbell]

British expat in LA describes ‘biblical’ scenes amid Storm Hilary and earthquake

A British expat living in Los Angeles has said Storm Hilary turned the street outside his house into a “river” which you could have “canoed down”, describing the tempest and concurrent earthquake as “biblical”.

Tim Amoui, originally from Haslemere in Surrey, and his American partner Shayda Frost, 37, “battened down the hatches” after receiving Government emergency alerts to his phone advising “flood warning, danger to life” on Sunday.

The 34-year-old businessman said the situation deteriorated rapidly and became “more apocalyptic” overnight on Sunday when the Californian city was struck by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake.

[22 August 2023 03:45 · Hayden Vernon]

VIDEO: Mudflows gush down a hillside as Tropical Storm Hilary makes landfall in Southern California

Mudflows rushed down a hillside as Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Southern California.

Footage shows the muddy torrents sweeping away rocks between State Route 2 and Sheep Creek on 20 August.

Drivers were advised to stay off SR-2 also known as the Angeles Crest Highway, in the Angeles National Forest as any trace of the road was no longer visible.

Millions of Americans were under flood and high-wind warnings as the storm moved north, unleashing heavy rains from the California-Mexico border to Las Vegas and beyond.

[22 August 2023 04:33 · Stuti Mishra]

Storm Hilary to batter Oregon and Idaho after flooding California

Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, flooded roads, toppled trees and forced a rescue by bulldozer of more than a dozen older residents trapped by mud in a care home on Monday as it now marches northward, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hilary had lost much of its steam and only vestiges of the storm were heading over the Rocky Mountains, but it warned that "continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding" was expected over portions of the southwestern US, following record-breaking rainfall.

Forecasters said the threat for flooding in states farther north was highest across much of southeastern Oregon into the west-central mountains of Idaho, with potential thunderstorms and localised torrential rains on Tuesday.

[22 August 2023 05:15 · Kelly Rissman]

Palm Springs left completely cut off from rest of state by Tropical Storm Hilary flooding: ‘We’re stuck’

Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Palm Springs with over half of a year’s worth of rain in mere hours – and cut off the city’s emergency services.

California officials declared a local state of emergency due to “unprecedented rainfall and flooding of local roadways and at least one swift water rescue.” City officials also urged residents to stay home and to “avoid driving during these dangerous conditions.”

Dozens of cars are trapped in floodwaters across the city as well as in surrounding communities, according to ABC7.

“There’s no way in or out of Palm Springs and that’s the case for the majority of the Coachella Valley. We’re all stuck. Our major freeway, I-10, is also closed in both directions. This is a very extreme situation at the moment,” said Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner on Monday.

[22 August 2023 05:30 · Stuti Mishra]

Rescuers drive bulldozer through mud to reach senior citizens stuck in care home

In a dramatic scene, rescue officials in the desert community of Cathedral City, near Palm Springs, drove a bulldozer through mud to a swamped care home and rescued 14 residents by scooping them up and carrying them to safety, fire chief Michael Contreras said.

They were among 46 rescues the city performed between late on Sunday night and the next afternoon from mud and water standing up to 5 feet (1.5 metres.)

“We were able to put the patients into the scoop. It’s not something that I’ve ever done in my 34 years as a firefighter, but disasters like this really cause us to have to look at those means of rescue that aren’t in the book and that we don’t do everyday,” he said at a news conference.

Cathedral city fire department rescues residents in a bulldozer following heavy rains from tropical storm Hilary in Cathedral City, California (AFP/Getty)

[22 August 2023 06:00 · Stuti Mishra]

Video: Crews work to clear mud and debris from California roads after Storm Hilary

[22 August 2023 06:30 · Stuti Mishra]

Storm Hilary brings a year's worth of rain for Death Valley

Death Valley in California, known for its extremely hot temperatures, saw its "wettest day on record in 112 years" on Sunday, according to data shared by Weather Channel senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman on Twitter.

Tropical storm Hilary dumped 2.2 inches of rain over Death Valley on Sunday, which also happens to be the average yearly precipitation for the region.

Like the rest of California, Death Valley was also under threat of flooding with the national park remaining close as mud and debris cut off roads.

[22 August 2023 07:00 · Stuti Mishra]

Mapped: The path of Tropical Storm Hilary bringing heavy rain and floods to California, Nevada and Mexico

Tropical Storm Hilary is expected to drive north through southern California into Nevada over the course of Monday having already brought heavy rain and flooding to the desert region, forcing rescuers to pull several people from swollen rivers.

Although Hilary has weakened from hurricane status, millions expect more flooding and mudslides to come.

The Pacific front had drifted north along the coast of Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula before it made landfall on Sunday in a sparsely populated area about 150 miles south of Ensenada.