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Powerful waves from Tropical Storm Rachel battered the Long Beach Peninsula overnight and into Friday morning, damaging homes, flooding streets and significantly damaging more than 30 feet of protective bulkhead, according to the city.
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Neighbors said water began flooding the area around 9 or 10 p.m. on Thursday. The boardwalk has been pounded by strong, high surf several times in recent weeks, and the remnants of Rachel have continued damaging an area already affected by previous storms.
“This is really, truly unique,” Long Beach resident Bon Senske said. “We don’t know what to expect. We’re in uncharted territory here.”
Even longtime residents who have experienced flooding in the past said the latest conditions were unusually severe.
“This is worse because there was a beach back then. It was called Long Beach, not no beach,” another resident said.
The city said three homes along the boardwalk were red-tagged on Friday morning after waves pounded the Peninsula, and two others were yellow-tagged as the damage assessments continued.
One home appeared severely damaged and at risk of falling into the ocean.
Residents have been picking up sandbags at Claremont Beach to shore up their garages. The city said it had distributed 6,300 sandbags as of Friday morning.
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Crews planned to reinforce the city’s protective wall during low tide. Other workers cleared storm drains to help floodwater flow out of the streets, while utility crews inspected power lines in the area.
“Cleanup crews who are doing a good job, they’re trying to clean up the debris that’s all in the street. There’s wood flying literally from the boardwalk,” Long Beach resident Matt Tylor said.
Residents were positioning sandbags and wooden barriers as they prepared for additional rain, high tides and potentially worsening conditions over the weekend. Some questioned whether those defenses would be enough.
“They need to get rocks from Catalina Island from the rock quarry and pile that and then have the sand be the caulking, so to speak,” Senske said.
Residents along the boardwalk were advised to be prepared to leave in case evacuations are ordered over the weekend.
“I’m expecting the Peninsula to be on lockdown,” another resident said. “Maybe some of those yellow tags on houses are going to turn into red tags, unfortunately.”
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