From downed eucalyptus trees to flooded deserts: Photos of Hilary, an unusual SoCal tropical storm

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Tuesday, August 22, 2023

A person pushes a cart on a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary heads north near Palm Springs, California, on Aug. 20, 2023.

A person in rain gear looks through the sand at the beach in Carlsbad, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023.

Surfer Adrian Zimmerman is pulled with rope attached to a bike as he skims with a board on a fully soaked lawn under heavy rain at Cannon Park in Carlsbad, Calif., Aug. 20, 2023.

Cars sit submerged in floodwaters on the Golden State Freeway as tropical storm Hilary moves through the area on Aug. 20, 2023, in Sun Valley, California.

An aerial image shows mud along roadways following heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary, in Rancho Mirage, California, on August 21, 2023.

Workers set up a sign near a flooded intersection as tropical storm Hilary moves through the area on Aug. 20, 2023, in San Bernardino, California.

The Garbage Boom on the Los Angeles River in Long Beach did its job overnight, collecting debris flowing down the river from tropical storm Hilary in Long Beach on Aug. 21, 2023.

A mailbox stands on a flooded residential street in Palmdale, Calif., as a tropical storm moves into the area, Aug. 20, 2023.

Joseph Wolensky stands in the street with a sign that says "You call this a storm?" on Aug. 20, 2023, in Palm Desert, Calif.

A person sits with umbrellas while watching surfers at Venice Beach on Aug. 20, 2023, in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles River swells with rushing water near Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California on Aug. 20, 2023.

Maura Taura talks on a cell phone outside her home next to a downed tree after Tropical Storm Hilary went through, on Aug. 21, 2023, in Sun Valley, Calif.

A broken umbrella protrudes from a trash barrel as pedestrians walk down Hollywood Boulevard during Tropical Storm Hilary, Aug. 20, 2023, in Los Angeles.

A child plays in the rain, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, in Los Angeles.

Vehicles cross over a flood control basin that has almost reached the street, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, in Palm Desert, Calif.

Members of Cal Fire Pilot Rock 6 crew clear mud off the side of the road in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Hilary on Aug. 21, 2023, in Yucaipa, Calif.

Dorian Padilla stands near his car as he waits for a tow after it got stuck in the mud on a street as another vehicle goes by on Aug. 21, 2023, in Cathedral City, Calif.

A vehicle makes its way through a flooded street in a suburban area of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles as a tropical storm moves into the area on Aug. 20, 2023.

A plow clears debris along a flooded Sierra Highway in Palmdale, Calif., as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on Aug. 20, 2023.

A woman walks her dog past a eucalyptus tree that fell on a house Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in Palm Desert, Calif.

A toppled tree from the tropical storm covers a car in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2023.

Mud and water flow through a crack off the side of the road in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Hilary on Aug. 21, 2023, in Yucaipa, Calif.

A eucalyptus tree that fell on a house is seen on Aug. 21, 2023, in Palm Desert, Calif.

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From downed eucalyptus trees to flooded deserts: Photos of Hilary, an unusual SoCal tropical stormA person pushes a cart on a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary heads north near Palm Springs, California, on Aug. 20, 2023.

David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images

LOS ANGELES -- Downed Eucalyptus trees. Flooded desert resort cities. Umbrella-clenching tourists.

Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, created very unusual sites throughout a region accustomed to dry and sunny weather.

MORE: Rainfall totals from Hilary

One photograph taken near Palm Springs shows a stretch of road caked in floodwaters and mud. Another shows cars trapped in the mud that consumed Cathedral City streets, and over in the San Fernando Valley, vehicles were seen partially submerged on the Golden State Freeway.

Trees were knocked down into homes and cars -- luckily, no one was injured. Maura Taura told the Associated Press a three-story-tall tree crashed down on her daughter's two cars but missed the family's house in the Sun Valley.

"Thank God my family is OK," she said.

Still, some managed to make light of the gloomy day. Tourists geared up in ponchos to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and down in Carlsbad, surfers used boards attached to bikes to skim across fully soaked lawns.

Check out these images below.