Despite a few flooded intersections in the city, Long Beach has yet to see a significant impact from Tropical Storm Hilary, officials said Sunday evening.
Winds picked up late in the day, with forecasters expecting the worst of the storm overnight. However, during a live update around 7 p.m. Mayor Rex Richardson said the city is prepared for whatever challenges may arise.
“There’s a lot of city workers and our entire city team that’s been preparing for this, and working and standing by for the community,” Richardson said. “We’re a very resilient community. We’ve dealt with big challenges before. We stand ready for any additional needs.”
While the city has seen minimal impacts compared to other parts of the region, the storm has still affected residents.
In addition to four intersections that saw low-level flooding Sunday but have since been cleared, there were at least 17,000 people in Long Beach on Sunday evening who were being impacted by power outages, according to Southern California Edison.
The city also set a new daily rainfall record Sunday, when 1.56 inches were recorded at Long Beach Airport, according to the National Weather Service.
The port and city airport have so far remained open, with the port seeing no impacts. According to FlightAware, Southwest has canceled 47 flights that were scheduled at Long Beach Airport on Sunday and another 19 that were scheduled on Monday.
Long Beach Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Jake Heflin, meanwhile, advised residents to stay alert and informed for any city updates as the weather starts to grow increasingly through the night.
“Make a plan. Have a conversation with your family about what to do and where to go in case of emergency.” Heflin said. “Don’t live in fear, live prepared.”
City to open more homeless shelter space amid storm as beds for Catalina evacuees go unused