SoCal beach towns walloped by waves from Tropical Storm Rachel

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 may be 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.

However, 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, Oct. 12, 2026

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Lucas Brady Woods

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LAist

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Long Beach damage

On Monday, tpowerful waves continued to batter 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.

Large stretches of the boardwalk were also destroyed, with pieces of splintered wood littering the water. At 66th Place, residents were using sandbags in an attempt to reinforce the boardwalk and prevent the damage from spreading.

Access to the peninsula remained restricted to local residents only. At areas with wider beaches, crews with heavy equipment were busy adding to sand berms.

Newport Beach flooding

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.

While some homes were flooded, she said, no homes were red tagged. Newport Beach city council will be discussing a sand replenishment plan this week.

Rain had less impact than waves

Tropical Storm Rachel's rains were fairly inconsequential, however. Over the weekend, just over a quarter of an inch of rain (0.29) 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 miles per hour at John Wayne Airport in Orange County and 17 miles per hour 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 two weeks ago (Sept. 28) to prepare residents for the rain, mudslides, landslides, debris flows, coastal erosion and flooding that the El Niño weather event could bring.

But officials emphasized that while only some of the potential damage materialized over the weekend, El Niño is far from over.