I’m a math teacher, not a meteorologist. But growing up on the Texas Gulf Coast, I experienced several hurricanes and tropical storms, so I thought it might help some of my SoCal friends to hear how I’m preparing for what is currently Hurricane Hilary. I say “currently” because most weather forecasters anticipate the storm will weaken a lot before it arrives in California in earnest, likely creating only tropical storm conditions instead of hurricane conditions in Southern California.

What’s the difference? Well, a storm is categorized as a “tropical storm” when maximum sustained winds near the storm’s center (the “eye” of the storm) grow to 39 MPH; a storm is dubbed a “hurricane” when its max sustained winds hit 74 MPH. (This doesn’t include wind gusts, which can be even higher in speed.) Hurricanes are further placed in categories 1 – 5, depending on their severity. Tropical storms and Category 1 hurricanes are primarily concerning because of the tremendous amount of rain they bring; their winds cause some damage to buildings, but usually that damage is moderate.

In light of this, the thing I’m most concerned about with Hilary is the possible loss of electricity, even for a couple of days. Chances are, we won’t actually experience that. In fact, given how unpredictably hurricanes and tropical storms move, it won’t be a complete surprise to me if the storm shifts to the East or West and we end up with hardly any rain at all! But the forecasting computer programs suggest we’ll probably get a ton of it, so it’s wise to be ready, just in case.

When there’s a lot of rain, electricity tends to go out in parts of the affected area. That’s because a lot of rain can damage a community’s power infrastructure in a variety of ways. Heavy rain also can make it easier for trees to fall over due to winds; when they fall over, they can snap power lines. The winds we’re likely to feel won’t be devastatingly strong, but they will be strong enough to fell some trees. If that happens enough over the affected area, it may take time for the electricity utilities to get crews around to all the broken lines. Many tropical storms and hurricanes on the Atlantic side of the country leave residents without electricity for at least a few days.

So my fam and I are:
1. Making sure we have enough batteries for flashlights.
2. Charging up our phones and laptops.
3. Making sure we have extra drinking water and non-perishable food items on hand for a few days, because the refrigerator won’t work without electricity, and the food will spoil if the power outage is long enough.
4. Getting more gas for our cars. (This is more of a convenience thing, since we’re not planning on evacuating. If the power goes out, gas stations that don’t have generators won’t be able to pump gas.)

That’s basically all we’re doing. But another comment about winds – they will be strong enough to blow things over or push things around that you have outside (plants, chairs, benches, picnic tables and umbrellas, toys, trash cans, canopies, and even basketball backboards), so bring those into your garages if possible. And of course, bring your pets inside.

Another common effect of tropical storms and hurricanes is flooding. If we get a ton of rain, and you live in an area where you tend to see street flooding, you’ll probably experience that again. If you live near the coast, a lake, a creek, or a dam, you could end up seeing some flooding as well. This will for most folks be just an inconvenience to deal with. If you live in a vulnerable spot like a recent burn area, you’ll need to take greater precautions. But either way, remember not to drive into floodwaters if you’re not sure how deep it is! Not only could that kill your car, but water currents can sweep away vehicles a lot more easily than you’d imagine, and those incidents usually result in tragedy.

We’ll get through this, my friends! Stay dry!