Review - Hurricane Hillary and Chemical Safety

News reports (here, here, and here) point to a vey unusual occurrence, a tropical storm (or perhaps even a hurricane) Hilary could impact Southern California late this weekend into the beginning of next week. The same news reports point out that the last tropical system to hit California was an unnamed storm that made landfall in Long Beach in 1939. Unlike Gulf Coast and East Coast chemical facilities, which routinely plan for hurricanes and tropical storms, chemical facilities in Southern California have no history and little experience to draw upon to plan to prepare for and respond to the effects of tropical storms.

The West Coast chemical industry must take Hillary as a wakeup notice about their responsibilities for planning for tropical storms and hurricanes. Given the changes in climate in the rest of the world, it is too much to hope that the next tropical storm to hit Southern California will not happen for another 84 years.

For more details about the potential problems that Hillary will bring to Southern California chemical facilities, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hurricane-hillary-and-chemical-safety - subscription required.