Tropical Storm Hilary is heading towards the Mexican Baja Peninsula and California today, Saturday, where the National Hurricane Center has predicted "life-threatening catastrophic flooding" in the peninsula and southwestern United States, and it is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm by Sunday.

Officials from as far north as Los Angeles have rushed to move the homeless off the streets, set up shelters, and prepare for evacuations.

Hilary is expected to hit the Mexican peninsula on Saturday evening, then move northward, becoming the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years.

The National Hurricane Center has issued tropical storm warnings across a broad area of Southern California from the Pacific coast to the mountains and inland deserts, and officials have discussed evacuation plans for Catalina Island in California.

Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said, "I never thought I would be standing here talking about a hurricane or a tropical storm."

After rapidly gaining strength early Friday, Hilary slowed down a bit later in the day but remained a major Category 4 hurricane early Saturday, with maximum sustained winds of 215 km/h, down from 230 km/h.

Early Saturday, the storm was centered about 375 kilometers west of the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, moving north-northwest at 26 km/h and was expected to continue moving northward and increase speed.

The latest forecast track indicated that Hilary would make landfall along a sparsely populated area of the Baja Peninsula about 330 kilometers south of the coastal city of Ensenada.

It is expected to continue northward, raising concerns that heavy rain could cause severe flooding in the border city of Tijuana, where many homes in the city of 1.9 million people precariously cling to steep hillsides.

Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez said the city is setting up four shelters in high-risk areas and warning people in dangerous zones, stating, "We are a vulnerable city, being on one of the most visited borders in the world and due to our landscapes."

Concerns have also been growing in the United States, where the national parks service has closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve to prevent people from getting caught in flooding, and cities throughout the region, including in Arizona, have been providing sandbags to protect properties from floodwaters.

The Major League Baseball has rescheduled three games on Sunday in Southern California, moving them to Saturday.

Los Angeles Police Department deputies have taken to the streets urging homeless individuals living in riverbeds to seek shelter, and city authorities are providing food, supplies, and shelter for those in need.

SpaceX has postponed the launch of a rocket carrying satellites from a base on California's central coast until at least Monday, stating that conditions in the Pacific could make it difficult for the ship to recover the booster.

President Joe Biden said that the federal Emergency Management Agency has pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the area.

Biden explained to reporters on Friday, "I urge everyone, everyone in the path of this storm, to take precautions and listen to guidance from state and local officials."

Officials in Southern California have been reinforcing sandbags that have been built to protect low-lying coastal communities from winter surf, as seen in Huntington Beach, which calls itself "Surf City USA."

Some schools in Cabo San Lucas have been set up as temporary shelters, and in La Paz, the picturesque capital of Baja California Sur on the Sea of Cortez, police have patrolled closed beaches to keep swimmers away from surging waves, and schools have been closed in five municipalities.

The San Diego office of the National Weather Service has said that it is increasingly likely that Hilary will reach California on Sunday while still at tropical storm strength, although heavy rain is expected to begin as early as Saturday.