Long Beach evacuates homes after Hurricane Marie's remnants damage seawall
Marie's remnants bring high surf to Long Beach
Hurricane Marie never made landfall in California, but the storm's remnants brought rain and tall waves into Long Beach.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - About 20 homes along Seaside Walk in Long Beach were placed under evacuation orders Monday night after the seawall protecting the peninsula was compromised by days of pounding surf from Hurricane Marie.
The storm never came ashore. Its swells did, pushing the Pacific over the berm and into streets and homes on the peninsula. Crews have staged pumps and filled thousands of sandbags ahead of the next high tide.
What we know:
The evacuations cover Seaside Walk from 63rd to 67th Place. The Long Beach Fire Department cited the seawall compromise and damage to the boardwalk, along with reports of damaged and cracked concrete between several of the homes.
The orders were issued out of an abundance of caution while the city's Building Department evaluates the structural integrity and condition of the homes.
The Long Beach Police Department is assisting with the evacuations and with street closures caused by flooding and water damage. The Health Department is offering assistance to those displaced, and Long Beach Transit is sending buses to provide immediate shelter for the families.
Sand carried in by the surf settled in the city's storm drains and overwhelmed them, leading to localized street flooding. A contractor jet-blasted the drains clean ahead of the next high tide.
The city has deployed three portable pumps with more on standby. Lifeguards and volunteers as young as 15 filled 2,000 sandbags. Long Beach Search and Rescue volunteers, fire interns and police explorers are working the sandbag operation, while Parks, Recreation and Marine beach maintenance crews and Public Works teams handle storm mitigation.
The peninsula is open to residents only. The beach and the boardwalk are closed.
What they're saying:
"If you take a look right now, that water's right up on top of that boardwalk, and we're still not even at the high tide. So these are serious things," said Assistant Fire Chief Jake Heflin of the Long Beach Fire Department.
"And so that sand intermixed with the water goes right into the storm drains, and when you have that sand settling in the storm drains, it overwhelmed the storm drains very quickly, and we had a lot of localized flooding in the streets," Heflin said.
Paula Attina, who bought her home on the peninsula almost 10 years ago, described what the waves feel like inside the house.
"Uh, that we will have a house — the way that it shakes because sometimes it, it just, it feels like an earthquake," Attina said.
"But the real message is that this is early in the El Niño season. There could be more storm events. There could be more water events," said Mayor Rex Richardson.
What's next:
The Building Department will determine whether the evacuated homes are safe to reoccupy. Crews are staying on the peninsula through the night, with more high tides ahead.
Richardson said Long Beach sits at the southern end of two rivers and multiple watersheds, meaning rain anywhere in the region reaches the coastline. The city is asking residents to stay prepared and follow city advisories.