PALM DESERT, Calif.—Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, swept people into swollen rivers, toppled trees onto homes, and flooded roadways as the massive system marched northward Monday, prompting flood watches and warnings in more than a half 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 warned that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” was expected over portions of the southwestern U.S., following record-breaking rainfall.
