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SoCal beach towns walloped by waves from Tropical Storm Rachel
Several homes were red-tagged as waves continue to slam the bulkhead along the Long Beach Peninsula on Monday.
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Lucas Brady Woods
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Tropical Storm Rachel’s waves and tides battered seaside homes in Long Beach, Newport Beach and Malibu over the weekend, damaging them to the point that some residents had to evacuate. But heavy rains failed to materialize, lessening the potentially disastrous impact.
Federal weather officials suggested Monday that while some flooding may remain, the worst of this weekend’s storm is probably over.
“Minor to moderate coastal flooding is likely to continue to through at least Tuesday," said the National Weather Service synopsis posted Monday morning.
“Periods of light to moderate rain and a low chance of thunderstorms will persist through Monday with below normal temperatures,” the synopsis continued.
The weather service said warm, dry conditions should return beginning Tuesday and continue through the end of the week.
Large waves crash over a damaged wooden seawall on the Long Beach Peninsula on Monday.
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Long Beach damage
On Monday, powerful waves continued to batter the Long Beach Peninsula. Eight buildings, which comprise 13 residences, were red-tagged, marking them as unsafe to enter. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place for buildings along Seaside Walk between 64th Place and 66th Place.
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Large stretches of the boardwalk were also destroyed, with pieces of splintered wood littering the water. At 66th Place, residents used sandbags to reinforce the boardwalk and prevent the damage from spreading.
Access to the peninsula remained restricted to local residents only. In areas with wider beaches, crews with heavy equipment worked to build up sand berms.
How to prepare for El Niño
Newport Beach flooding
Crews work to build berms along a stretch of sand in West Newport Beach on Monday.
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Newport Beach had prepared for the storm last week by adding sand to the beach. But spokesperson Georgia Rios said it hadn't been enough.
"Between the elevated high tides, as well as that elevated surf coming in, it breached our berms and went into the roadways," she said.
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In West Newport Beach on Monday, sandbags were still piled against doors and garages of many homes, and some streets near the beach were scattered with sand left behind by seawater.
Rios said some homes were flooded, but none had been red-tagged.
On the beach, crews were building sand berms, as they had for days.
“All the work that these crews have been putting in were absolutely essential to keeping flooding out of the homes,” Rob Marienthal, a Newport Beach lifeguard officer, told LAist on Monday.
A couple of days after being inundated by seawater, sandbags continued to surround garages and doorways in West Newport Beach.
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Lucas Brady Woods
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Sand remained in the streets of West Newport Beach on Monday after seawater flooded the area late last week.
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Lucas Brady Woods
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Marienthal added that the berms will remain an important defense against more high tides and swells expected this fall, especially in vulnerable areas like the Balboa Peninsula.
The Newport Beach City Council will be discussing a sand replenishment plan this week.
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Rain had less impact than waves
Tropical Storm Rachel's rains were fairly inconsequential. Over the weekend, just over a quarter of an inch of rain (0.29 inches) fell in Long Beach. It barely rained in downtown L.A. (0.07) and Santa Monica (0.02). Just over 2 inches of rain fell at Mount Baldy, according to a National Weather Service post Monday morning.
Meanwhile, at midday on Saturday, winds hit 23 mph at John Wayne Airport in Orange County and 17 mph at the Santa Monica Airport.
Some cities across Southern California declared local emergencies days before this weekend’s winds, tides and waves hit the region.
The city of Malibu declared a local emergency Sept. 28 to prepare residents for rain, mudslides, landslides, debris flows, coastal erosion and flooding that the El Niño weather event could bring.
But officials emphasized that although only some of the potential damage materialized over the weekend, El Niño is far from over.
How we reported this story
LAist correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reported from Long Beach, speaking to officials from Long Beach and Newport Beach and checking reports from the National Weather Service. Lucas Brady Woods reported from the Long Beach Peninsula and West Newport Beach, interviewing residents and officials and taking photos and videos. Suzanne Levy and Matthew Ballinger edited this report, with additional editing by Jolie Lash.
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