Long Beach Storm Surge: A New Threat to Coastal Homes

Long Beach storm surge is the phrase many readers are searching, but what reached the Peninsula was not necessarily a conventional storm surge, the sea-level rise a hurricane’s winds push ashore. The National Hurricane Center’s final discussion of Rachel’s remnants pointed instead to storm-generated waves, a long-period southerly swell and water levels running as much as 1.5 feet above predictions.

By Sunday afternoon, that combination had also emptied some homes. The Long Beach Post reported that inspectors had red-tagged nine buildings containing 13 addresses, meaning they are unsafe to enter, with one more building yellow-tagged. A mandatory evacuation for homes between 64th and 66th places runs through noon Tuesday, October 13, and 39 more residences are under an evacuation warning. Those are the Post’s Sunday figures, and they may change.

A Bulkhead Weakened Before the Long Beach Storm Surge

The barrier is a timber bulkhead and boardwalk along Seaside Walk. After Hurricane Marie stripped the sand around it, the fire department evacuated about 20 homes in late September after finding cracks and a compromised seawall and boardwalk, according to the Post and the Los Angeles Times.

When Rachel’s surf arrived Friday, waves topped the bulkhead and tore apart a section of boardwalk, the Post reported. Why it failed is not established: no source reviewed offers an engineering finding or shows a maintenance lapse. Some residents told the Post they wished the city had acted sooner, and city spokesman Laath Martin said life safety is the priority. National Weather Service meteorologist Kristan Lund said peak swell, high tide and wind direction never lined up, which kept conditions from being worse.

Long Beach Storm Surge Aftermath: Standing Homes, Locked Doors

A red tag does not mean a house has fallen. It means no one may go in. A yellow tag allows brief entry for belongings, the Post reported Friday, and the city calls tags preliminary, open to downgrade after repairs and inspection.

For families, that means waiting outside homes that are still standing. Assistant Fire Chief Jake Heflin said many want to retrieve belongings, but firefighters cannot send anyone into a building that could be near collapse. One home in the 6500 block appeared close to collapse Friday, the Post reported. No report reviewed describes a collapse, and none rule one out. Homeowner VR Venkataraman told the Post his family evacuated and he returns at high tide to check supports he helped crews build.

Long Beach Storm Surge Response: What the City Is Doing, and What Stays Open

Crews are bracing the bulkhead with lumber beams and plan to place about 30 sandbags, roughly 3,000 pounds each, by crane on 65th Place, the Post reported. The city has spent more than $1 million from its Tidelands emergency reserves.

Responsibility is already dividing. The city is seeking state help for public work, while cleanup and demolition of private homes fall to owners, it says, who should call their insurers. Whether any policy will respond is not established.

Long-term protection after the Long Beach storm surge is unresolved. City officials expect erosion and damage to worsen through the El Niño season. The checkpoints are concrete: Tuesday’s noon evacuation deadline, full dredging starting the week of October 19, and the next tag decisions. They will show whether the defense is rebuilt before the next large swell.