LONG BEACH, September 12 — Firefighters moved house to house along the seawall on the Long Beach Peninsula on Monday evening, knocking on doors to tell residents of roughly twenty homes between 63rd Place and 67th Place that they needed to leave. The Long Beach Fire Department said the evacuations were ordered because the seawall is compromised, on top of existing damage to the boardwalk. Officials also pointed to reports of damaged and cracked concrete between some homes.
The Long Beach Building Department was dispatched to the area to evaluate the structural integrity of the homes. Eyewitness News crews in the neighborhood watched as family members arrived to help loved ones evacuate, while waves ripped across the seawall and slammed into homes.
A weekend of water and sand
The intense waves, generated by Tropical Storm Marie out in the Pacific, had already pushed into shoreside neighborhoods over the weekend, leaving behind inches of water and sand. By Monday evening, a news crew on the peninsula watched the sea crash against and over the seawall near the boardwalk. Water and sand entered several homes along the seawall.
Sand berms built to hold the ocean back disintegrated, covering several streets along the peninsula with sand. The city of Long Beach said it was making sure the boardwalk was still structurally sound enough for people to walk on.
Long Beach Fire Batt. Chief Jake Heflin said: “We’re going to have to do a real assessment on the boardwalk, the impact of this storm on the boardwalk, the impact of this storm on the waterfront here, and what that looks like — how we do this, how do we reinforce this, and how we build up, because this is just the beginning.”
Residents brace for another night
Long Beach Peninsula resident Rob Quest said: “Well, if it’s anything like last night, the water is definitely jumping over the wall about eight feet or so, so hopefully everything kind of holds that we’re trying to do here, and we’ll just kind of maintain it.” Quest also said: “The climate emergency is real. This is one event, but we have t” — the quote as provided ends there. Residents were preparing for another night of potential flooding and high tides.
What comes next rests on the assessments still underway — the building department’s read on the homes behind the seawall, the city’s verdict on the boardwalk, and whatever reinforcement Heflin’s crews conclude the waterfront now requires.
