Powerful ocean waves resulting from the last gasps of Tropical Storm Rachel continued to pound the Long Beach Peninsula on Monday, further damaging a row of devastated homes.
No other structures were damaged, though, and city officials have shifted focus to recovery efforts.
“We’re not out of the woods yet … but we are beginning the work toward recovery.” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said at a media conference Monday afternoon. “For the families displaced from their homes, this means facing those difficult questions about when you can return to your home, what comes next. We’ll continue to stand with you and work with you to get those questions answered.”
Warnings of potential coastal flooding from the National Weather Service were downgraded Sunday afternoon to advisories, which will remain in effect until 2 p.m. Tuesday for beaches in Los Angeles County.
The city reported Saturday evening that eight buildings with 13 residences had been red-tagged and another structure was yellow-tagged after waves pummeled a portion of Long Beach’s waterfront starting Friday. Coastal erosion made the area even more susceptible to wave damage.
A red tag means a structure is not safe for people to occupy it, while a yellow tag allows a property owner to enter temporarily to retrieve belongings but prohibits living there until authorities deem the building structurally safe.
According to Richardson, all of those restrictions were still in effect Monday.
“Damage to affected properties continues to worsen, but no additional buildings have been tagged at this point,” the mayor said.
Homes in the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk remained under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday.
Evacuation advisories were lifted Sunday evening for most other Alamitos Peninsula residents, including on Naples and Treasure islands, city officials reported.
An announcement from the city at 6:15 p.m. Sunday lifted the broader advisories, but evacuation warnings stayed in effect for residents of the Peninsula neighborhood on 64th, 65th and 66th places south of Ocean Boulevard, along with homes in the 6200, 6300, 6600 and 6700 blocks of Seaside Walk.
The Peninsula was closed to nonresidents, with street closures beginning at 62nd Place. Officials urged residents and visitors to avoid damaged coastal infrastructure and heed directions from emergency responders.
Several sand berms placed after a prior round of high surf were washed away in spots over the weekend. At the visibly damaged boardwalk debris floated offshore as waves washed around and beneath battered waterfront homes.
City officials said they have provided approximately 17,000 sandbags for this latest storm and roughly 24,000 across the three recent storms to residents preparing for the storm. The city urged residents and businesses to keep their sandbags for possible future storms.
Crews have been delivering sandbags to residents in the Peninsula on both bayside and beach side and select fire stations are serving as sandbag distribution centers for all residents, officials said. The Public Works Department used large-haul trucks and bulldozers to deliver sand for use in berm reinforcement and for residential use, with additional plans to bring between 50,000 and 100,000 cubic yards of sand to fortify the areas between 62nd and 70th Place next week.
The city revealed a seven-point plan to boost protection of the Alamitos Peninsula, including repairing damaged infrastructure, replenishing beach sand, creating additional protective barriers and pursuing longer-term coastal protection projects and funding, officials said.
City Manager Tom Modica told reporters Saturday that crews had started to move 45,000 cubic yards of sand with the goal of making the storm-battered beach 200 feet wider.
Much of the funding for the projects to combat beach erosion would come from Tidelands funds, according to Modica.
Officials said construction-grade cranes were being used to lift 3,000-pound sandbags into place to support the seawall.
Richardson said boardwalk-repair crews began mobilizing Monday, and that work would commence Tuesday.
The mayor noted that the city is also looking to the future, with additional powerful storms anticipated in the coming months resulting from El Niño conditions.
“We also know that this is one of the first three storm events during the El Niño season, which will not be the last,” Richardson said. “The goal here is not simply to replace what has been damaged. We will certainly make our infrastructure safe. We’ll repair the boardwalk. But this is about making sure that we’re taking steps to have a more resilient coastline in the years ahead for generations to come.
“Three major storm systems in six weeks has certainly exposed vulnerabilities in coastal communities, and we have to prepare for even more severe conditions through this El Niño season,” he said.
Long Beach officials urged residents and visitors to stay off beaches, coastal walkways and vulnerable roads and structures. Motorists were warned not to drive around barricades or through floodwaters of unknown depth.
City officials said crews would continue monitoring coastal conditions and assessing damage and urged residents to sign up for emergency notifications online via Alert Long Beach at AlertLB.com and check for updates at longbeach.gov/emergency.
