At least 8 homes red tagged in Long Beach as high surf causes damage
By Jasmine Viel
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LONG BEACH, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Powerful waves continued to slam the already-damaged Alamitos Peninsula Friday night as Tropical Storm Rachel caused more erosion, rip currents, and damaging surf, leaving 8 homes red-tagged.
The city says officials are assessing further damage as residents are taking matters into their own hands to shore up their homes. They are bracing for more impact tonight and into the weekend.
For many residents, this is the worst they’ve ever seen, and they feel helpless.
“A lot of people are retired down here like us. They’ve worked their whole life, this is their whole world, and you can’t do anything,” said James Mitzner. “You sit back and watch. It’s like a train wreck. There’s nothing you can do.”
Strong waves began Wednesday night and continued into Friday morning, slamming into Long Beach’s Alamito Peninsula.
One of Mike Peters’ neighbors’ homes is now red-tagged and on the verge of collapse. Powerful surf is washing away the sand their foundations sit on.
“You can see the boardwalk is completely destroyed,” he said. “I guess this piece of stucco fell off the house.”
The relentless surf from Tropical Storm Rachel is also battering the already broken boardwalk and threatening more homes left vulnerable by last month’s Hurricane Marie.
After Marie’s damage, homeowners like Gabrielle Holt got to work with neighbors, fighting back with sandbags and reinforcements like private contractors and engineers.
“We put sandbags along the bulkhead,” Holt said. “We put in over 500 sandbags. They told us what to do and it’s sand, sand, sand, sand, sand and bolt, bolt, bolt, bolt, bolt.”
City crews continue building a sand berm and repairing a 30-foot section of damaged seawall. But some say the city is playing catch-up.
The city says it has a seven-point plan to better protect the peninsula, including emergency repairs, replenishing the beach with more sand and long-term coastal protection.
Starting Saturday, crews are expected to begin moving up to 100,000 cubic yards of sand back onto the beach ahead of a larger dredging project scheduled to begin the week of October 19.
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