"Get out sooner rather than later": California fire chief says evacuation orders should not be taken lightly

By Maureen Chowdhury, Aditi Sangal, Mary Gilbert, Eric Zerkel, Steve Almasy, Matt Meyer and Helen Regan, CNN

From CNN’s Josh Campbell and Bill Kirkos in San Bernardino County

As strong rain and winds impact Southern California, fire department officials are pleading with the public to heed evacuation orders and stay off the road unless they are in danger.

McClintock said evacuation orders are meant to help residents escape areas that may face serious flooding, and that warnings should be heeded immediately.

“The last thing we want you to do if we have significant rain is you try to leave last minute and then be overtaken by floodwaters,” McClintock said.

Flash flood warning: San Bernardino County began issuing evacuation orders for some communities Saturday night, and late Sunday the National Weather Service (NWS) sent a mass alert to cell phone users in parts of the county advising the area was under a flash flood warning.

San Bernardino County officials handed out more than 100,000 sandbags to residents in advance of the storm. McClintock said the department has now shifted from preparation mode to response mode, with a surge of first responders on alert to respond to calls for service.

From CNN's Gene Norman

Flash flooding is occurring in Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service, which adds, "a DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODING SITUATION is developing from Point Mugu and Camarillo eastward through Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills area and across the mountains of Los Angeles County.”

A flash flood warning is in effect for downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles County until 3 a.m. PT (which is 6 a.m. ET) Monday, according to the weather service. This affects more 7 million people.

"In Spanish Hills, cars are stuck in flooded roads. Fire Department is conducting swift water rescues," the weather service office in Los Angeles posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Some locations that could experience flash flooding include: Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Lake Los Angeles, Acton, Wrightwood, Burbank, Palmdale, Mount Wilson, Pasadena, North Hollywood, Griffith Park, Santa Clarita, Universal City, Van Nuys, Lancaster, Hollywood, Alhambra, Northridge, Downtown Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

According to the weather service, more than a dozen sites in the area reported more than 1 inch of rain in the past two hours, as of 6:50 p.m. PT (9:50 p.m. ET).

"Between 1 and 4 (total) inches of rain have fallen, with 3 to 6 inches in the mountains. Additional 1 to 4 inches rainfall is possible in the warned area,” the weather service said.

The 5 p.m. PT update from the National Hurricane Center says heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Hilary is expected across the Southwestern United States through early Monday morning.

From CNN's Christal Hayes

As Hilary made its trek to California, some tourists remained unbothered.

Larry Reninger and his wife, Patrice, got some water and non-perishable food from the single grocery store in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island, a small island popular with tourists and cruise ships about 25 miles from the coast of Long Beach in Southern California.

The couple, who traveled from a suburb of Chicago to enjoy the sunshine, said they weren't scared off by the storm and instead grabbed drinks to watch it roll in.

On Sunday, the couple, along with their daughter, Chrissy, and her husband, Joe Greskoviak, who are both from California, ventured around the mostly deserted island. Joe wore a trash bag as a poncho to keep dry in the rain. The group got drinks at one of the few restaurants still open.

Just 24 hours prior, the area was filled with tourists venturing into ice cream shops, art galleries and luau bars. Many appeared startled Saturday afternoon when an emergency alert from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department sounded on their phones, advising them to leave the island at their "earliest opportunity" due to the storm.

"The sheriff's office told us to go and it spooked us," said Brenna Vasquez, 27.

Vasquez and about a dozen other friends filled two beachside cabanas at the Descanso Beach Club for a bachelorette party on Saturday. Wearing mostly pink — and the bride in a white bathing suit — many in the group didn't know about the storm when they arrived earlier in the week. They left Saturday to avoid any issues.

From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg

President Joe Biden complimented the “extraordinary mutual aid system” at work in California as Tropical Storm Hilary drenches the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference in Los Angeles Sunday.

Newsom said Biden called him to discuss the storm, currently moving across Southern California.

Biden, who is scheduled to go to fire-devastated Maui on Monday, was briefed by Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell and senior White House staff on Sunday while he spent the weekend in Lake Tahoe, according to the White House pool statement.

At least 7,500 first responders are in place in California. They include 350 National Guard members, 3,900 California Highway Patrol employees and more than 2,000 Department of Transportation workers, Newsom said.

According to the White House statement, FEMA assets have been deployed to California, and the US Coast Guard has prepositioned assets for possible search-and-rescue missions.

Other federal personnel were sent to Nevada, according to the White House.

From CNN's Eric Zerkel

Tropical Storm Hilary has crossed the US-Mexico border into California, becoming the first tropical storm in the state since Nora in 1997.

Hilary is only the fourth storm of tropical storm strength or stronger to move through the state. The storm's strongest winds and heaviest rain are now moving farther inland. It will continue to lose strength, but wring out a potentially devastating amount of rainfall as it tracks through the state toward Nevada.

Hilary could be the first tropical system on record in Nevada if it survives the journey there.

Tropical systems usually lose their intensity before reaching California. The often-cooler water closer to the California coast starves storms of the fuel they need to maintain strength. They also often hit Mexico and fall apart before reaching the US.

But Hilary was exceptionally strong, a Category 4 storm last week, and fast-moving, so it was able to maintain some of its strength by the time it reached California.

From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Jamiel Lynch

The nation’s second largest school district will be closed Monday because of Tropical Storm Hilary, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Sunday.

“Everything will be shut down,” including after school programs and activities, he added.

Carvalho, who came to the Los Angeles district from Miami-Dade Public Schools, has experience leading a large district through hurricanes and tropical storms.

The decision was based on the inability to fully survey schools and ensure the safe conditions of roads and other conditions, Carvalho said.

“We stand by our decision,” he said. “There is no way we can compromise the safety of a single child or an employee and our inability to survey buildings or our inability to determine access to schools, makes it nearly impossible for us to open schools.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District cover an area of about 700 square miles, meaning the geographical differences of affected neighborhood schools will vary greatly.

In nearby Pasadena, schools will also be closed on Monday, the Pasadena Unified School District said Sunday.

“With the safety and well-being of our students, employees, and their families as our highest priority, we have decided to close PUSD schools tomorrow, Monday, August 21, 2023,” the district said in a news release citing the flash flood, wind and storm warnings currently in place.

“We want everyone to stay safe and avoid any unnecessary travel or exposure to dangerous road conditions,” the district stated.

And schools in the San Diego Unified School District will also be closed on Monday, delaying the start of the school year, according to a news release.

San Diego Unified serves more than 121,000 students in preschool through 12th grade.

From CNN's Cheri Mossburg

One person was plucked from the Los Angeles River shortly after firefighters responded to a call about two cars in the flood control channel, according to Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.

It wasn't clear whether the rescued person had any connection to the vehicles, Crowley said at a news conference. No victims were found in the cars or the immediate area.

Crowley said there have been no reports of injuries or any significant damage so far as the result of Tropical Storm Hilary.

LA firefighters also responded to a Koreatown apartment with a partial roof collapse and two debris flow incidents in Sherman Oaks.

Flight cancellations and delays are beginning to pile up Sunday as Tropical Storm Hilary barrels into the Western United States.

At least 1,030 flights into, out of or within the United States have been canceled on Sunday, according to tracking website FlightAware.

And at least 4,016 US flights have been delayed Sunday, the website noted.

From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg

Los Angeles officials will open three more emergency shelters and provide transportation in an effort to help get the city’s homeless population to safety before the brunt of Tropical Storm Hilary hits.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told CNN Sunday afternoon, “We have tens of thousands of people who are homeless, so we’re working with our county partners, our county housing services – homeless services agency — to get people into shelters. And we have a lot of shelter beds available. So we’re trying to make sure, especially those individuals that are on the riverbeds, do not get compromised and drown.”

Urging unhoused people to accept temporary shelter, city officials said those who go to emergency shelters can bring pets and personal belongings.

The new accommodations are in addition to the five emergency shelters opened Saturday near high-risk areas close to waterways and potential flood zones.