Homes along the Southern California coast have been catastrophically damaged as powerful waves and flooding tied to Tropical Storm Rachel battered coastal communities. Authorities warn that further flooding is still possible.
Some of the most-serious damage hit the Peninsula in Long Beach. Strong waves crashed over and damaged a coastal bulkhead, which is a retaining wall designed to protect the shoreline from erosion, sending floods of water into homes and streets. Long Beach officials said that building inspectors have red-tagged eight buildings containing 13 homes, deeming them unsafe to be in and restricting access over safety concerns.
A mandatory evacuation order remains in place for several homes in the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk; evacuation warnings cover additional properties on the Peninsula. The city has restricted access to the area to residents, with street closures beginning at 62nd Place.
What Damage Has Storm Rachel Caused?
Crews in Long Beach deployed a crane and positioned 30 heavy-duty sandbags weighing 3,000 pounds each to reinforce the damaged bulkhead.
The city said it has also supplied around 17,000 sandbags. Next week, it is planning to bring another 50,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand to strengthen coastal defenses in vulnerable areas.
But the damage hasn’t been confined to just Long Beach.
In Newport Beach, officials declared a local emergency following widespread coastal flooding as high surf and unusually high ocean levels battered the shoreline. “Higher-than-normal surf” flooded streets on the Balboa Peninsula. Crews quickly rebuilt the protective sand barriers along the beach, opened tide valves, and operated pumping systems to drain floodwater.
The city said crews and contractors were continuing to reinforce the sand barriers. Newport Pier, Balboa Pier, the Wedge from the rock jetty to M Street, and the Balboa Pier parking lot remained temporarily closed.
What Is the Latest Forecast?
Although Rachel itself is no longer classified as a tropical storm, in its final advisory on Sunday, October 11, the National Hurricane Center said that the remains of the storm could continue to bring hazardous weather to the region.
The NHC said: “Waves generated by Rachel will continue along the coasts of Southern California and northern Baja California.” It added that these waves will cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.” The NHC also said that some areas were likely to get up to 5 inches of rain through Sunday; this “will continue to lead to the potential for significant flash and urban flooding.”
The latest National Weather Service (NWS) forecast, issued late Sunday, says “minor to moderate coastal flooding is likely to continue through at least Tuesday.” Spells of light to moderate rain are also expected through Monday, with a low chance of thunderstorms.
Long Beach said the Coastal Flood Warning had been downgraded to an advisory lasting until Wednesday, October 13, at 2 p.m. Minor to moderate flooding is still possible around high tides as is localized damage in particularly vulnerable low-lying places.
The storm had delivered considerably more rain farther south. The NWS in San Diego reported that flash and urban flooding occurred as Rachel moved through the region. Preliminary totals reached 2.37 inches in San Diego County valleys and 2.15 inches in the mountains in its Sunday morning update. Peak rainfall rates reached 0.70 to 1 inch per hour in the mountains.
The California Coastal Commission’s 2024 guidance explains how shoreline armoring interacts with sea-level rise, beach erosion, coastal habitats, and the loss of beach space through coastal squeeze. It reports that approximately 38 percent of Southern California’s coast is protected by some form of armoring, based on a cited 2019 study.
Newsweek has reached out to the City of Long Beach Joint Information Center and the NHC for comment.
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and James Debens