California mountain and desert towns dig out of the mud tropical storm

By MARK J. TERRILL, JOHN ANTCZAK and JULIE WATSON
Associated Press

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Crews worked to dig roads, buildings and care home residents out of the mud across a wide swath of Southwestern U.S. desert Monday, after a tropical storm to hit Southern California. The National Hurricane Center said only vestiges of a weakened system was moving over the Rocky Mountains late Monday. Hilary first made landfall as a hurricane in Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula on Sunday, causing one death. Officials say California so far appears to have emerged with no deaths, no serious injuries or any extreme damage.