Newport Beach looked less like a beach town and more like an extension of the Pacific, or even a lake, this weekend. The flooding was almost incomprehensible.
Aerial footage from the Balboa Peninsula shows block after block inundated with seawater after swell generated by former Hurricane Rachel combined with unusually high tides and already elevated ocean levels. Cars crawl through flooded intersections while water surrounds homes stretching inland from the beach.
Near the Wedge, the situation was even uglier. Fast-moving seawater pushed into beachfront properties after waves overwhelmed massive protective sand berms.
“This is the worst I’ve seen it in my 20 years on the Peninsula,” Newport Beach City Councilman Joe Stapleton told the Los Angeles Times. Officials said the swell arrived roughly twice as large as initially predicted, punching through 20-foot berms and flooding roads between roughly 21st and 6th streets.
The city declared a local emergency Friday.
“Newport Beach experienced significant coastal flooding overnight as Tropical Storm Rachel brought elevated surf and unusually high ocean water levels to our coastline,” Mayor Lauren Kleiman said.
See footage of houses being flooded near the Wedge, linked here, and below:
Utilities Director Mark Vukojevic said the tide came in an astonishing 20 inches higher than predicted, with flooding affecting an estimated 15 to 20 blocks. The total cost of damage and cleanup remains unclear.
Rachel wasn’t acting alone.
An El Niño-fueled Kelvin wave has raised the background ocean level along Southern California by an estimated 6 to 12 inches, while record-warm Pacific water and high tides amplified the flooding. USGS scientist Jonathan Warrick called the combination of “high tides, Kelvin wave, hurricane waves” “unprecedented.”
Related: The Ocean Is Pouring Into Newport Beach, and the Worst May Still Be Ahead
And yet, this is Newport Beach.
Amid the carnage, Wedge local Sage Burke turned a flooded street into a novelty wave, surfing behind a car through the neighborhood.
Check out the footage, linked here, and below:
“Making lemonade,” Burke wrote, as video showed him literally surfing down the street.
The stunt offered a surreal moment of levity.
But city officials aren’t laughing. Crews are pumping streets, rebuilding berms, distributing sandbags and warning residents that unusually high ocean levels remain a threat.
The scary part?
Scientists say this could be a preview of what Southern California faces during the coming El Niño winter. Get ready. This is just the beginning.
Related: Watch: 25-Foot Backwash Explodes as Hurricane Rachel Swell Floods Orange County
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