Tropical Storm Rachel's surf forces Long Beach evacuations, damages Peninsula bulkhead and closes Newport Beach piers

Waves from Tropical Storm Rachel tore into the Long Beach Peninsula on Friday, Oct. 9, and the worst may still be ahead. As of Saturday, Oct. 10, a coastal flood warning covered beaches from Malibu to San Diego.

The National Weather Service's Oxnard office said Saturday that "there is growing confidence that the expected coastal flooding impacts on Sunday morning for vulnerable south-facing beaches of LA County could be the most significant we have seen so far this season, including those seen with Marie." Its San Diego office said Sunday morning carries the highest flooding risk for the Orange and San Diego coasts, when swells, onshore winds and high tides line up.

The National Hurricane Center said Rachel's center was expected to move onshore in northern Baja California on Saturday night. Rachel was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday. Its forecast track has shifted farther south, leaving most of San Diego County outside the projected path. Adam Roser, lead meteorologist at the weather service in San Diego, said wind impacts are still expected there, and a tropical storm watch remains in effect for the whole county.

Long Beach: bulkhead breached, buildings red-tagged

The damage is concentrated on Seaside Walk, where waves topped the bulkhead and pushed water into homes and streets. The city said roughly 30 feet of the bulkhead between 65th and 66th places was significantly damaged.

The barrier was already exposed. Waves from Hurricane Marie had stripped away the sand around it, and Rachel's swells finished the job on Friday.

A mandatory evacuation order covers homes on Seaside Walk between 64th and 66th places. It took effect at 7 p.m. Friday and runs through noon Tuesday, city officials said. "The return date is subject to change based on evolving conditions," the city's announcement said.

Inspectors red-tagged eight buildings covering 13 addresses in the 6400 and 6500 blocks and yellow-tagged at least one more, Mayor Rex Richardson said Saturday. A red tag means a building is unsafe to enter. A yellow tag lets an owner go in briefly for belongings but not stay. The city says the tags are preliminary and a red tag can be downgraded once repairs are signed off. Inspectors are rechecking homes twice a day, according to Craig Nakano of the Community Development Department.

The Peninsula is closed to nonresident traffic, with more street closures starting at 62nd Place. Crews have braced the damaged section with timber and about 1,000 sandbags. A commercial crane is scheduled to drop more sandbags along 65th Place and westward.

Todd Leland, a manager in the city's Parks, Recreation and Marine Department, said the bulkhead and pedestrian boardwalk had already sustained significant structural damage. "Prepare right now for the impacts," Richardson said. "Our infrastructure was not built for this."

City officials said more than 10,000 sandbags have been distributed ahead of Rachel and about 17,000 across the three recent weather events. That is Marie, Polo and now Rachel.

The bill

Long Beach is speeding up work on the beach itself. Spokesman Laath Martin said a $230,000 plan to move 50,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand into the eroded stretch of Peninsula beach would start Saturday. The full $11.4 million dredging project is set to begin the week of Oct. 19. Long Beach Post reported that long-term fixes are expected to cost even more.

City Manager Tom Modica said he expects a lengthy recovery. "We will be asking for assistance from the governor, and potentially also from the federal government," he said. That means state and federal taxpayers, not only Long Beach's, may be asked to help cover what comes next.

Peninsula resident Brian Gerrard put it plainly on Saturday: "It's going to be a lot of things to fix when this is over. It's a once-in-a-lifetime storm. Who's prepared for that?"

Newport Beach: emergency declared, piers shut

Newport Beach declared a local emergency Friday after overnight flooding on the Balboa Peninsula. On Saturday morning the city announced that all beaches and piers were closed until further notice, with police telling the public to "stay away from these areas."

By early afternoon the beaches had reopened. The piers and the stretch from M Street to the Wedge surfing spot remained off-limits, and officials asked people to stay off the sand berms. Crews were rebuilding berms, opening tide valves and running pumps. "These measures are intended to reduce potential flooding impacts, but cannot eliminate all flood risks," the city said.

Joe Angelo, who has lived in the area for 60 years and bought his beachfront home 27 years ago, said he was in "shock and disbelief." "I haven't seen one drop of water on that sand in 27 years," he said.

Kelly Poole, co-owner of TidePoole's restaurant, said water gushed down alleyways near her home on West Balboa Boulevard on Friday morning. "It came up so fast," she said. She plans to shelter in place Sunday and has stocked supplies and sandbags.

What the forecast says

The weather service has coastal flood warnings in place for Orange County and Los Angeles County beaches, including Long Beach and Malibu, until 3 a.m. Sunday. A coastal flood advisory follows from 3 p.m. Sunday until 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13.

The Sunday morning high tide is forecast around 9:40 a.m. in Newport Beach and 9:50 a.m. in Long Beach. High tides along the LA County coast are expected to reach 7.3 to 7.5 feet this weekend, with waves up to 7 feet.

Berms built after the previous round of surf have already been washed away in spots. Whether the patched bulkhead holds through Sunday's tide will decide how many more Seaside Walk homes are red-tagged before the evacuation order is scheduled to lift at noon Tuesday.