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LA County officials urge residents to prepare now before storm arrives

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Los Angeles County leaders are urging local residents to prepare for emergency conditions with the approach of Hurricane Hilary, calling on them to establish evacuation plans and assemble emergency supply kits in the event of drastic storm conditions.

County officials also said they are making efforts to clear homeless people out of riverbeds or flood control channels that could be inundated during the anticipated heavy rains from the storm, which is expected to start dropping rain on the area as early as Saturday and continuing through Monday. Hilary is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches Southern California, but it is still expected to bring heavy rain and high winds.

“I don’t want people to panic … but we need to be prepared,” Sheriff Robert Luna said during an afternoon news conference.

Luna said his department will have personnel ready to deploy quickly to emergency situations, particularly search-and-rescue personnel and aircraft. The county’s Emergency Operations Center will be activated at 6 a.m. Sunday and continuing through at least Wednesday afternoon, he said. Ahead of the storm, however, Luna said sheriff’s personnel have been working with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and other assistance agencies to contact the homeless who may be camping in treacherous areas such as riverbeds.

“Those efforts began this morning and will continue through Sunday morning,” Luna said.

Luna said patrol units are driving along roadways at the top of riverbeds making amplified announcements to warn people about the impending storm. Sheriff’s aircraft have also been flown over potentially dangerous areas making announcements and helping to spot people potentially in harm’s way. County Supervisor Janice Hahn echoed Luna’s concern for the homeless, and said efforts are being made to move the homeless into temporary housing. Hahn also warned that county parks could be closed over the weekend if they are deemed to be unsafe due to rain and wind. She also said extra personnel are being dispatched to Catalina Island, which could be particularly vulnerable to the storm. She urged people to reconsider any plans to travel to the island this weekend, or at least to be sure to return to the mainland by Saturday.

“It’s been 84 years since (a tropical storm) came ashore, so it’s a once in a lifetime event that we’re going to be experiencing,” Hahn said. “This really is an all-hands-on-deck effort.”

County officials are urging residents to sign up for emergency alert notifications by visiting alert.lacounty.gov. Kevin McGowan, director of county emergency management, urged residents to plan ahead for the storm by preparing emergency kits, establishing evacuation plans and sign up for emergency alerts. McGowan said a list of emergency preparedness tips is available at ready.lacounty.gov. He also said residents can get “real-time emergency updates” at lacounty.gov/emergency.

County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone offered a series of tips in addition to signing up for alerts, including urging residents to arrange for emergency battery backup for any essential medical equipment. He called on residents to stay out of the ocean and flood water and avoid approaching any downed trees or power lines. The county is providing sandbags to residents at all fire stations.

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50 comments for "LA County officials urge residents to prepare now before storm arrives"

  2. HAS THE HURRICANE HIT HERE YET..?

    WILL THE ONE’S ON THE WAY BE ANY WORSE ?

    LOOKS LIKE EL NINO IS HERE TO ME –

    GOLF UMBRELLAS ARE THE PLAN STAN –

    GET ONE NOW BEFORE THE RUN OUT –

    THEY ARE BIGGER AND DRYER –

    ***

    JUST ASKING –

  3. – RATS AND MICE PLASTIC JAR STORAGE WARNING –

    I HAD SOME QUART OPAQUE WHITE PLASTIC BOTTLES OF RUBBING ALCOHOL –

    AND DARK BROWN PLASTIC BOTTLES OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE STORED –

    LAYING FLAT WITH MY OTHER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SUPPLIES –

    RODENTS ATE TINY HOLES AT EACH CORNER OF ALL THE PLASTIC BOTTLES –

    THE FLUID REMAINED INSIDE –

    ***

    I ALSO STORED SEVERAL ZIP LOCK BAGS OF TEA CANDLES FOR MY CANDLE LANTERNS –

    THE RODENTS ATE ALL THE WAX IN EVERY CANDLE LEAVING ONLY THE MANGLED,
    CHEWED UP METAL SLEEVES !

    ***

    THEY HAVE CHEWED INTO EMPTY CLEAR PLASTIC BOTTLES TOO –

    ***

    I STORED BATTERIES IN LARGE CLEAR PLASTIC BOTTLES AND TOSSED IN A
    HANDFUL OF WHITE RICE TO DE-HUMIDIFY THEM –

    THE RODENTS ATE INTO THE CORNERS OF THE CLEAR PLASTIC BOTTLES TO EAT THE RICE –

    ***

    MAYBE YOU SHOULD CHECK YOUR EMERGENCY SUPPLIES LIKE I DID?

    MAYBE NOT…

    ***

  4. I’m celebrating. Got ‘ride out a hurricane’ checked off the bucket list and didn’t even have to move to some red state hellhole like Florida to do it.

      • Most people that ride out a hurricane aren’t hit by anything but the edges anyway, so this was good enough. As to your opinion on how boring I am, you’ll never know, since you are too stupid for me to bother getting to know you.

      • It’s fact based BC. It makes no difference if Tim, or you, ‘calls it’ a hurricane. There are internationally agreed upon standards of what IS a hurricane, and what is NOT a hurricane. This is one of those situations you obviously aren’t equipped to deal with, since you obviously pride yourself on living ‘fact free.’

        • What a lame, lol.

          It was rain, a tropical storm the second it made landfall far south of here in Baja.

          I’m sure it probably didn’t even interrupt your gaming sesh nerd.

        • To be fair, unless you are a resident of Baja California could you call it a hurricane, it is classified as a tropical storm well before it hit land which occurred south of the US in Baja. That’s the reason it only ended up amounting to rain and not much wind, high wind speeds being the most identifying characteristic of a TRUE hurricane.

          Our waters are too cool for true hurricanes /cyclones.

          So celebrate having “rode out a hurricane” I guess.

        • and those standards DIDN’T apply here dr fischbeck. are you really really this intellectually bereft?

      • LOL…random attack with no connection to anything. Might as well just admit to yourself that you are too weak to compete.

  5. We should all pray for are salvation that if we die in this storm we are saved and repent so that we can go to heaven and pray for the people who can get the kit because the lord will pervid for those who can .

    • Why don’t you folks pray before the hurricane, so it doesn’t harm anyone?

      You always wait till afterward.

      Don’t prayers work when it’s too late.

      • No, the prayer before hand is what made it Peter out to basically be the pinnacle of Tim’s life and turn out not much more than rain.

    • YOU LEFT OUT THE NEED TO BE BAPTIZED BY SOMEONE WITH THE AUTHORITY TO DO –

      BY IMMERSION LIKE OUR SAVIOR WAS BY JOHN THE BAPTIST –

      ***

  8. For those who are homeless, jobless, on drugs, or just can’t make it on the little money you get.. it’s the government saying we are over populated so get rid of those who are draining the government.. times like this I wish I learned how to swim lmao.. we will all be fine …or dead

  9. Prolonged power outage is possible, fill up old plastic pepsi jugs with water and keep them in closet, caned food too, stuff you can open and eat with spoon like chef boyardee. Wifi and mobile data could both be down, head to play store now and get offline games to keep you occupied or an ebook or 2, and charge up all your power packs.

    Might just be a mild storm, but you never know.

  11. I just want to no why u cant answer the question? What about these not so fortunet as the rest the rest?????? What do they do???? How do they get this kit???

      • If you can’t afford to prepare and make your own emergency kit or buy one of the ready made kits at walmart or whichever store you can get too, you can call 2-1-1 they should be able to help you with that if not at least point you in the right direction, hopefully or possibly ask at the local fire department for info on where you can get help .
        Be safe and take care of you and yours

      • Will Antelope Vallyey Suprior zcourt be open on Monday August 21st 2023 due to Tropicsl St I rm watch?

    • You live in California where there are earthquakes and you don’t have an emergency kit. In my mind you have had since 1994. Plenty of time to save and buy one.