Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Emergency repairs and cleanup were underway Monday in California’s wave-battered city of Long Beach, where several homes appeared on the brink of collapse and remained too dangerous to enter. Tropical Storm Rachel brought less rain than forecasters had predicted, but the heavy surf—driven by a confluence of factors including the abnormal storm system, high tide, the impact of El Niño, and human-caused climate change—was enough to severely damage some coastal properties. Dramatic photos and video footage showed homes along the city’s peninsula teetering precariously, while its historic boardwalk was partially swept away.
“These kind of impacts are not normal. They’re unprecedented for our community,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson during a weekend press conference. “This is a sobering reminder of the power of nature,” he added. Some residents who lived on particularly threatened blocks were issued mandatory evacuation orders through Tuesday. Richardson urged people to take seriously warnings to prepare, including picking up city-provided sandbags, saying, “our infrastructure was not built for this.” “This accelerates all of our urgency to address climate resiliency on our coastline,” he added.
The local leader pointed to warnings that El Niño’s effects will worsen into the winter and are expected to wreak more havoc along California’s coast. City official Tom Modica detailed a plan at the press conference for immediate and longer-term resiliency strategies, including repair of the damaged boardwalk as well as its failed bulkhead, a vertical retaining structure meant to stabilize waterfront property. Modica also pointed to a dredging project intended to widen the beach by about 200 feet (60 meters) by adding some 415,000 cubic yards (317,000 cubic meters) of sand, a project he said was now accelerated to begin October 19.
The National Hurricane Center said the worst of Rachel was over, but “hazardous coastal conditions” could persist for days, with the highest waves coinciding with high tides, causing life-threatening surf and rip currents.
Pacific hurricanes that impact southern California to this degree are rare. Rachel was the latest named entrant in this year’s unusually active season, weather charged by the recurring El Niño pattern that this time around is particularly extreme. El Niño raises surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean and causes global changes in winds and rainfall. In the Atlantic, it tends to rein in the strength and frequency of hurricanes, but in the Pacific, it has the opposite effect. Human-caused climate change can worsen El Niño’s impacts. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, allowing rains to turn more intense.
Paris Henken, a US competitive sailor, said in a viral Instagram post that she had been a tenant of one of the buildings now on the brink of collapse. “An ocean front 1 bedroom that had everything we could have ever wanted. As an Olympic sailor aiming for LA2028, I was steps away from my playground (maybe a little too close),” she wrote in the caption. “To see three storms undo a place that brought so much peace is devastating,” Henken continued. She also referenced the chorus of criticism that many homes along California’s coast belong to the wealthy or are second homes, and that they never should’ve been built on such a vulnerable landscape. “Although it’s true the Peninsula is home to many multi-million-dollar homes, our little community was far from that,” wrote the athlete. “We are renters and can get up and move, but the sense of stability this apartment gave us was everything to me.”
© 2024 AFP
