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Powerful waves continue to batter Long Beach
Powerful waves continued pounding the Long Beach Peninsula, sending water into the air during Monday’s high tide. The repeated storms damaged the Peninsula, red-tagging eight buildings and severely damaging parts of the historic boardwalk.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Powerful waves continued slamming the Long Beach Peninsula on Monday, sending water shooting into the air at high tide despite no hurricane or tropical storm being in sight.
"It’s the new reality, right? And it’s terrifying," said Grace, a Long Beach resident.
The California coastline has taken hit after hit in recent weeks, first from Hurricane Marie, then Hurricane Polo and most recently Tropical Storm Rachel.
The repeated pounding has left the Peninsula with extensive damage. Eight buildings representing 13 residential addresses have been red-tagged as unsafe to enter, while another building received a yellow tag, according to city officials. Sections of the street have also been fenced off.
"No one thought this would ever happen. I lived here 10 years, 10 years. And we saw when the water was coming here before, it would splash, like, ‘Oh, it’s cute.’ This isn’t cute. It’s dangerous level," said Marian, who has lived on the Peninsula for more than a decade.
Much of the historic boardwalk has been ripped away, while other sections remain buried under feet of sand. City crews have rebuilt a sand berm and reinforced portions of the damaged boardwalk and bulkhead in an effort to protect nearby homes. But waves continued pounding the temporary defenses Monday.
The city is also moving forward with an $11.4 million Alamitos Bay Entrance Channel dredging project expected to deliver about 415,000 cubic yards of sand to the Peninsula. The project aims to widen the beach by approximately 200 feet in the targeted area, creating a buffer to help reduce wave action and flooding.
"It’s not the city’s fault we’re being pelted by waves right now," Grace said.
But residents remain concerned about what the coming months could bring, particularly as high tides and powerful surf continue to threaten the already damaged shoreline.
Monday’s high tide was around 4.5 feet, while water levels during Rachel reached more than 6 feet, according to figured publicly shared by the National Weather Service. Upcoming king tides could push water levels higher, adding to concerns about the Peninsula’s remaining coastal defenses.
"Hard to do much right now. This isn’t even the king tide. This is just a regular tide [and look how high it is]. Unfortunately, I don’t know if there’s a lot that can be done until next spring," said Dagen Olsen, a Long Beach resident.
City officials have said emergency stabilization efforts are underway, with additional sand replenishment and permanent repairs planned. The city has estimated permanent repairs to the damaged bulkhead and boardwalk could cost between $1.5 million and $3.6 million, with work targeted for completion by the end of the year.
The larger dredging project is intended to provide additional protection, though officials have acknowledged that replenished sand can be washed away during powerful surf and future storms.
The Source: This report referenced observations from the Long Beach Peninsula, interviews with residents, information from Long Beach city officials and publicly shared figures from the National Weather Service.