Tropical Storm Hilary brought a year’s worth of rain to Death Valley in a single day – the wettest 24 hours on record for the region – as it flooded roads and toppled trees across California.
Hilary, now downgraded to a post-tropical storm, dumped 2.2 inches over Death Valley on Sunday, which is the average yearly precipitation for the region.
After hammering California, Hilary now marches northward, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami 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.
Meanwhile, dramatic scenes showed rescuers reaching people through roads covered in mud and debris.
In Cathedral City, near Palm Springs, rescuers drove a bulldozer through mud to a swamped care home and rescued 14 residents by scooping them up.
In Palm Springs, officials revealed that the storm had fully cut off the area.