For ages, a beachfront home in Southern California was the ultimate status symbol, one that instilled envy in all those who loved the beach but lived inland. Well, today that envy may not apply to many areas as the combination of beach erosion and coastal flooding have left many beachfront homes destroyed or highly vulnerable, especially on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach.
While the beach erosion has been an ongoing issue for years, the recent run of relentless south swell and the arrival of both a Kelvin wave and Tropical Storm Rachel has sent the water up and over the hastily made sand berms put in place by the city. For the past few weeks, our friends at Yucca fins have been documenting the beach erosion at Wedge and highlighting the potential of what finally happened yesterday.
The result was a scene locals have long feared, but could ultimately see coming. On Friday, the city of Newport Beach declared a local emergency after a swell roughly double the predicted size blew through the sand berms at the Wedge, flooding streets from about 21st Street to 6th Street. Water reached knee height in places across several blocks, stranding vehicles and creeping toward homes several blocks from the beach. One city council member called it the worst he’d seen in 20 years on the Peninsula.
City crews have been scrambling to keep up by rebuilding berms, running pumps, and opening tide valves to drain flooded streets. Residents and drivers are being urged to avoid the area, and officials have warned that the worst may still be ahead, with Sunday morning’s higher tide and bigger swell expected to pose the greatest threat.
Much of the attention has focused on the Kelvin wave, a pulse of warm water that temporarily raises sea levels along the coast. It has been tied to the elevated tides, though its exact role in the flooding and erosion hasn’t been conclusively determined. What’s clear is that a summer and fall of El Niño-fueled swell had already stripped much of the sand from the Wedge, exposing an old pier, rocks, and rusted metal, and leaving little buffer between the ocean and the neighborhood when Rachel’s energy arrived.
For surfers, it’s a sobering reminder that the same forces that deliver epic surf can also threaten the communities that line it. Please stay out of flooded areas, keep clear of the shorebreak, and heed city and lifeguard advisories through the weekend.
Related: What Is a Kelvin Wave? And What Does It Mean for California Surf?
Original Post from this site