While scattered coastal streets and neighborhoods continued to experience flooding amid high tides on Thursday, water levels continued to inch lower from their peak on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a wet Halloween loomed on the horizon for communities that have coped with record high tides for more than a week.
On Thursday morning, Long Beach saw high tides of 7.8 feet, according to the city, down from this week’s peak of 8.22 feet.
No additional structures were damaged this week, but water continued to pour into some streets and neighborhoods. On Thursday, impacted areas continued to include Naples Island, the Peninsula and the areas around Marine Stadium and Colorado Lagoon. So far this season, seven buildings accounting for 12 residences are red-tagged, and two were yellow-tagged.
Here’s where to get sandbags in Long Beach.
In Orange County, officials were assessing the impact of a wet week. Coastal flooding caused significant damage across Huntington Beach, with the city releasing figures on more than 100 structures damaged when seawater flooded low-lying sections of the town during extreme high tide periods.
About 114 homes and structures sustained water damage during this week’s flooding, officials said, when high tides were pushed higher than 8 feet.
Six homes were also yellow-tagged, restricting access due to safety concerns.
There was also a structure fire that occurred following the flooding because of saltwater exposure to a lithium-ion battery, the city said in a recap Thursday, Oct. 29. “These incidents remind us that high tides can create hazards that remain even after the water recedes.”
While there were still streets that flooded on Thursday, there were no new homes damaged, officials said. The edges on both sides of Pacific Coast Highway had water, but it wasn’t as much as the previous day, when the entire street was under water, said city spokesperson Jessica Cuchilla.
Redondo Beach Public Works Director Andrew Winje said in an Oct. 29 email that the city has “experienced minor flooding around all three of the marina basins in King Harbor, including the International Boardwalk area where there are retail establishments.”
Winje said the city is “doing our best to protect the storefronts with sandbags and working to find additional solutions for predicted higher tides coming in November and December.”
There have been no reports of “significant damage to city facilities,” Winje said, and the Redondo Beach Pier, “which is several feet higher than our basin seawalls, has not experienced any flooding or damage.”
Winje said the city has experienced water levels from “1 to 2 feet above published tide charts during this week’s morning high tides.
“Peak tides are subsiding after Tuesday’s peak,” Winje said.
Fortunately, Winje said, the city was “spared from the waves and surges that south facing coastlines have recently experienced.”
Malibu saw no significant new flooding or damage during this week’s high tides, which fortunately did not coincide with large waves, City Spokesperson Matt Myerhoff, told SCNG Thursday afternoon. However, officials continue to monitor coastal erosion along Westward Beach Road near Point Dume and Pacific Coast Highway near Carbon Beach and Big Rock.
Westward Beach Road and Birdview Avenue remain open, with no new damage reported along the city-controlled portion of Westward Beach Road, Myerhoff said. Los Angeles County crews previously installed large boulders to protect the shoreline. Along PCH near Carbon Beach and Big Rock, where erosion previously reached the edge of the highway’s asphalt, Malibu officials are using drones to monitor vulnerable areas following emergency repairs by Caltrans a couple of months ago.
Although the Halloween weekend storm is expected to bring relatively light rain, officials are warning residents in the Franklin and Palisades fire burn areas to watch for potential mudslides, debris flows and flooding.
“Any amount of rain can be a concern right now,” Myerhoff said.
Motorists are also urged to use caution on wet roads, particularly along PCH, where traffic signals frequently malfunction during storms because of power outages or other system failures. Myerhoff warned that dark intersections can be especially dangerous and reminded drivers to come to a complete stop at traffic signals that are not functioning.
The city is encouraging residents to obtain sandbags and put them in place before the rain begins. Free sand and empty bags are available at Los Angeles County Fire Station 70, Camp 13 and Zuma Beach’s main entrance. Filled sandbags are also available at Malibu Equestrian Park for Malibu residents only.
Additional sandbag distribution locations can be found through the L.A. County Sandbag Locator website.
A low pressure system is expected to last through Sunday and bring rain levels of half an inch to two inches across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, according to Monday’s forecast by the National Weather Service.
Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1, are currently the most likely days to see rainfall, meteorologists said. Weather experts urged folks to be ready to use more caution on the holiday this year.
If rain does hit the L.A. area on Saturday, it would be the first time since 2014 that it experienced a rainy Halloween, forecasters said.
Staff writers Teresa Liu, Christina Merino, Ryanne Mena and Laylan Connelly contributed to this report