Evacuations along the Peninsula neighborhood of Long Beach, which suffered damage to a seawall and the boardwalk from pounding surf and flooding, will go into Wednesday morning, Sept. 9, concerning 19 residential buildings.
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, coastal engineers were assessing the seawall and boardwalk and the best ways to reinforce both for when the high tide comes in that night, said Capt. Jack Crabtree of the Fire Department.
A command post had sandbags and a distribution plan that was to be intact through the night if needed, he said.
Vickie Comtois helps dry the garage of her daughter’s Peninsula home in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The night before high-surf conditions forced the evacuation of about 20 homes. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Damage to the Peninsula seawall caused by pounding surf from Hurricane Marie in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Robbie Cox helps a Peninsula resident shovel sand following a night of pounding surf from Hurricane Marie in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Damage to a playground on 67th Place caused by pounding surf from Hurricane Marie in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The night before high-surf conditions forced the evacuation of about 20 homes. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
High surf ponds the Peninsula seawall in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Vickie Comtois helps dry the garage of her daughter’s Peninsula home in Long Beach on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The night before high-surf conditions forced the evacuation of about 20 homes. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The structures, containing 24 homes, were evacuated on Monday, with Long Beach fire officials and building inspectors working to assess any structural damage, Fire Department Capt. Jake Heflin said.
Heavy surf pounded the Peninsula on Sunday and Monday.
Building Department assessors had been out Monday night, but they could not survey the damage due to darkness and hazards, Heflin said.
The work wasn’t expected to be completed by Tuesday, Sept. 8.
A rainbow spans the horizon of waterlogged Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach on Sunday, September 6, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Waves pound a small retaining wall during high tide as a lifeguard keeps watch near Ocean Blvd. and 67th Place in Long Beach on Sunday, September 6, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Waves pound a small retaining wall during high tide as a lifeguard keeps watch near Ocean Blvd. and 67th Place in Long Beach on Sunday, September 6, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pedestrians navigate across Ocean Blvd. at 67th Place in Long Beach, while the streets are flooded with about two feet of water during high tide on Sunday, September 6, 2026.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A wave crashes up and over a small retaining wall on Sunday, September 6, 2026, near homes in Long Beach on the Peninsula near Belmont Shore during high tide. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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A rainbow spans the horizon of waterlogged Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach on Sunday, September 6, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“The seawall sustained some damage, and the boardwalk sustained some damage,” Heflin said.
“The loss is pretty remarkable,” he added. “Parts of the beach are being exposed that haven’t been in a very long time.”
The intense waves and flooding were brought in part by Hurricane Marie.
Those who were evacuated gathered into the Claremont Lot near 54th Place on Monday night, then officials identified anyone who needed additional assistance for a place to sleep, Heflin said.
Travel into the Peninsula was limited Tuesday morning, with a checkpoint set up on Ocean Boulevard to turn away all traffic except for residents, city crews and fire officials.
But that did little to stop foot traffic, as joggers and dog walkers still flowed through the beach community, alongside residents surveying the damage left by the storms. Work trucks were about. And the mud and the debris left behind by the flooding remained.
“It’s been a little bit crazy,” observed Mike Rondilla as he watered the plants outside his home a few blocks from the evacuation area.
While the area where Rondilla lives was far from the hardest hit, he still saw water flow freely down the street.
In previous weeks, crews built up berms.
“I don’t think people expected it to be this bad,” Rondilla added.
Portions of the historic boardwalk that runs between the homes and the seawall on the ocean-facing side of the Peninsula were clearly damaged. Caution tape blocked off the walkway, though many people ignored the warning and stepped over the tape to continue their walks or to check out the damage.
On 63rd Place, one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding, renters Hayden and Jenna Clegg recalled watching on Sunday as the high tide hit and the water began rushing down the street — up to a foot deep at times. They tried to warn those parked on the street but were unable to find the owner of a small BMW that appeared to be heavily damaged by the flooding.
“Once a year, the waves get pretty high and there have been a few times the water has come over (the wall), but I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Jenna Clegg said. “They (workers) build up the sand berm every day, but I almost feel like it didn’t end up being in our favor, because the whole berm just ended up here.”
Jenna Clegg pointed to the mud and sand left behind.
People filled the boardwalk even as the big waves crashed overhead, the Cleggs said. At one point, Hayden Clegg said, a family let their young children stand on the seawall, only to pull them away moments before a big wave washed over it.
“It would have for sure pulled their feet out from under them,” Hayden Clegg said.
Resident Jon Lewis lives on the bay side of the Peninsula, but as a dedicated photographer he spent much of the long weekend documenting the waves and the flooding.
“It was mother nature at its full potential,” Lewis said. “Unstoppable is how I would describe it. There was really nothing anyone could do.”
Allison Garland stepped around sandbags on Tuesday as she cleaned up the mud and debris that had flowed into her garage less than a half-block from the boardwalk. She was out of town for the worst of the flooding but arrived home to see the damage.
“We’ve had flooding, but nothing like this,” said Garland, who has lived in the area for eight years.
Along with the sand from the berms, the flooding also spread debris from the destroyed parts of the boardwalk and seawall, several residents said.
Carol Williams, who lives in a second-floor unit on 63rd Place, said she “never thought it would be like this.” Williams left on her own before the formal evacuations began.
“The waves were much bigger than they have ever been,” Williams said. “The damage to the (sea)wall and the fear of the damage to the houses and having to evacuate — that hasn’t happened for many, many years.”
Sand piled up on top of the boardwalk; wood planks were broken and sunken at various points. Some homes had wood planks and sand bags placed in an attempt to block water and sand from getting through.
“Even though the tide may be higher and the swell may be lower, we’re much more vulnerable in the context of what that might look like,” Capt. Heflin said Tuesday morning. “The huge impact the boardwalk was taking, the cracking and splitting of wood, we felt (evacuation) was the best call to make at the time.”