Dozen Long Beach Homes Crumble Into the Ocean as Surf Hits California Coast
Storm remnants and high tides destroyed beachfront homes on the Long Beach Peninsula, and scientists say the strongest El Niño on record could make winter worse.
At about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, Shawn Curtis woke to find the boardwalk outside his two-story Long Beach, California, apartment building gone, along with the 25-foot-wide sand beach that had sat in front of it. Waves were reaching the second floor and the building was tilting toward the ocean.
Curtis, who had lived there nine years, climbed out his bedroom window with his dog, Lux. His roommate also got out. A few days later, drone video showed his couch floating in the sea, NBC News reported.
More than a dozen homes on the Long Beach Peninsula crumbled into the ocean between Oct. 9 and 11. Eight structures containing 13 homes were deemed too unsafe to enter. Boardwalks and parts of the Pacific Coast Highway farther south were swallowed by the sea, and a stretch of the highway in Laguna Beach remains closed as sections crack and slide toward the water.
The surf has hit communities from Malibu to San Diego and flooded Newport Beach. The cause was a run of storm remnants: Hurricane Marie over Labor Day weekend, Hurricane Polo in late September and Tropical Storm Rachel in early October. Waves reached up to 17 feet offshore during Rachel's remnants.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city's infrastructure "was not built for this." Crews used planks and sandbags earlier this month, but the repairs did not hold. The city says work will continue during lower tides.
Scientists say the worst may be ahead. The strongest El Niño on record is predicted, with a peak expected in January and February 2027. Climate scientist Daniel Swain said flooding will not improve for months and may get worse. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Kelvin waves, which are ocean waves driven by El Niño, can add about a foot to wave height. Combined with high tides above 7 feet and storm surge, the result can be catastrophic.
Timu Gallien of UCLA said three more rounds of seasonal high tides this year will likely bring more flooding and erosion. Northern California is expected to see similar conditions in November and December. Coastal erosion also flooded the Pacific Coast Highway during past El Niño winters, including the mid-1980s and late 1990s.
Residents are already deciding whether to stay. Dana Marie Lazzareschi, who rented on the peninsula for four years, evacuated hours before neighboring homes fell and said she would not buy a home there now. Curtis had told his landlord two weeks before the collapse that he wanted to move out. He plans to stay in the area, on the bay side of the street.
