Newport Beach expected intense surf Friday, but the high tide turned out to be much worse than the estimates.
Water from a massive swell — double the size that was initially predicted — blasted through 20-foot berms erected at the Wedge and washed out roads from about 21st Street to 6th Street, officials said. City crews responded quickly to pump out water as residents surveyed the damage.
“This is the worst I’ve seen it in my 20 years on the Peninsula,” said Newport Beach City Councilman Joe Stapleton.
The city was one of several coastal communities to see flooding Friday as residents braced for Tropical Storm Rachel, which is expected to cause more issues over the weekend.
- Flooding: No injuries were reported, but some houses were damaged in Long Beach and Newport Beach, where several streets flooded.
- Forecast: Rachel’s arrival will bring the potential for strong winds, rain and more damaging coastal flooding. If the current storm trajectory holds, the bulk of Rachel’s effects will be felt in San Diego County on Sunday morning. However, Orange and Los Angeles counties are still forecast to see widespread rain and coastal flooding as a result of the system, according to the National Weather Service. For more on the timeline, click here.
- Exceptionally high tides: At around 9 a.m. Friday, the high tide in San Diego and La Jolla was 17 inches higher than the official prediction, which doesn’t account for hotter-than-normal ocean waters or swells from tropical storms, according to forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Tides were coming in 16 inches higher than the official prediction in Santa Monica and 14 inches higher in San Francisco as of Friday morning.
Here is a round up along the coast:
Newport Beach
Streets on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach were flooded with at least a foot of water during high tides, with the police department advising residents and motorists to avoid the area. The flooding was remarkable even in a neighborhood that has been prone to regular inundations in the past, particularly during El Niño.
Officials are still trying to determine how many homes were damaged.
“This swell was very unprecedented coming up that high,” Georgia Rios, a spokesperson for the city of Newport Beach, told The Times. “We knew we were going to have a high swell due to Tropical Storm Rachel, but along with El Niño it really has been a combination force here in Newport.”
The city declared a local emergency on Friday and urged residents to pick up sandbags to protect their homes over the weekend. City crews are pumping out water on the streets, rebuilding beach berms and opening tide valves to help mitigate water intrusion.
“This is not even the worst that is expected,” Rios said. “It’s forecast to get even worse on Sunday with rain.”
Newport Beach Utilities Director Mark Vukojevic told ABC7 that the morning tide came in 20 inches higher than what had been predicted. “It’s significant. We’ve seen it be 12 inches higher, but this is, you know, kind of record-breaking for us,” he told the outlet.
Laguna Beach
The intersection of Coast Highway and Broadway was inundated with water from big waves and high tides. The typically sandy sections of Main Beach — where locals often gather to walk along the sand and play beach volleyball — were transformed into a sea of water.
Huntington Beach
High surf battered parts of Huntington Beach, resulting in localized flooding on streets in the Sunset Beach area. That stretch is prone to flooding during high tides and storm surges.
There were no reports of any property damage.
City officials said they have activated the Emergency Operations Center in preparation for the weekend and are making sand and sandbags available to residents.
Long Beach
Powerful waves crumbled large sections of the boardwalk on the Long Beach Peninsula and left several homes with severe structural damage. Video showed waves slamming against the bulkhead that protects beachfront homes.
The city has already been besieged by an unusually active, El Niño-fueled hurricane season, taking damage from Hurricane Marie over Labor Day weekend and Hurricane Polo last month.
“We’ve had three storms back pretty much back to back to back,” said Laath Martin, a spokesperson for the city. “This is definitely not something that we see very often.”
Officials have red-tagged two properties, including a duplex with three units. Three buildings have also been yellow-tagged ahead of Rachel’s arrival after sustaining damage from Hurricane Marie.
Long Beach has already distributed more than 7,500 sandbags as residents prepare for what could be a very trying weekend.
“It’s hard to predict exactly what will happen, but just based on forecasts, we’re preparing for more damage,” Martin said.
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