While Hurricane Isaias was slamming the Gulf Coast, a second storm was battering the other side of the country. Big surf and high tides pushed by Tropical Storm Rachel flooded streets in Newport Beach and Long Beach over the weekend, and the storm’s remnants are now dumping months’ worth of rain on the desert Southwest.
Rachel came ashore in Mexico just south of the U.S. border late Saturday night after weakening from a tropical storm, FOX Weather reported.
How bad was the flooding in Newport Beach?
Newport Beach declared a local emergency Friday after a tidal surge sent water racing through the Balboa Peninsula, stranding dozens of cars and damaging homes and businesses. “Our priority is the safety of our residents and visitors and protecting homes, businesses and public infrastructure,” Mayor Lauren Kleiman said, ABC7 reported. Crews used heavy equipment to rebuild sand berms before each high tide and asked other agencies for help.
In Long Beach, waves crashed into beachfront homes Saturday as residents filled sandbags, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Local outlets reported several Long Beach homes were red-tagged as unsafe, and Newport Beach closed piers and some beaches.
Where is Rachel’s rain going?
The remnants spread heavy rain across Southern California and into Nevada, including Las Vegas, on Sunday. Forecasters’ biggest flooding worries are Riverside County, northwest Arizona, southern Nevada and the slot canyons of southwest Utah, where more than two months of rain could fall, FOX Weather said. Flash flood threats continue into the start of the week.
If you’re in the region: don’t drive through flooded roads or washes, stay out of slot canyons and dry riverbeds when rain is forecast, and stay off seawalls and jetties when surf is high.
The BeezLoop Take
Southern California isn’t supposed to get tropical storms. When one sends the ocean two blocks inland in Newport Beach, that’s worth taking seriously, especially when it happens during a week with three named storms spinning at once.
Coastal cities have relied on temporary sand berms for years. Weekends like this show how thin that protection is, and how much homeowners and taxpayers stand to lose as warm-water storms reach farther north.
The open question: will California’s coastal cities start planning for storms like Rachel as normal, not freak events?
Also on BeezLoop: Isaias hit near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane.
Sources: ABC7 Los Angeles · San Francisco Chronicle · FOX Weather · CBS LA (video)
