7 homes red-tagged, 13 yellow-tagged in Capistrano Beach as high surf from Rachel continues to batter Orange County coast

DANA POINT, Calif. (KABC) — Coastal homeowners in Orange County are using whatever they can to protect their properties as high surf and relentless tides threaten homes already damaged by previous storms.

In an update on Monday morning, the City of Dana Point said there are now seven homes red-tagged, 13 homes yellow-tagged, two homes demolished and one scheduled to be demolished in the Capistrano Bay District.

Some homes tagged in Dana Point are on the verge of collapsing into the sea. In one of the hardest-hit coastal neighborhoods, sidewalks were buckling and falling into the water on Monday morning amid high tides from the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel.

Homeowners are anxiously waiting to see whether their properties will be taken out by the ongoing swells and high tides.

The neighborhood was already reeling from another storm last month, which led officials to red-tag eight homes. Two homes were demolished.

Several homes along Beach Road in Dana Point’s Capistrano Beach sustained significant damage after powerful waves struck the Orange County coastline.

Capistrano Beach resident Lauri Torres fears her home could be next.

“I came home, and on the 9th, we came in, and our deck was starting to cave,” Torres said. “And then I went to the neighbors two doors down and saw their entire deck was off. And I saw their deck the first day that it was off, the second day, their house fell. I mean, it happened that fast.”

Torres noted that the homes are built on sand, leaving them especially vulnerable to erosion.

Another home along Capistrano Beach has been lost, as it started to sink into the ocean following last week’s storm. Ten more have been declared unsafe.

“Our homes are on sand, and so, our slab is just straight on sand. So what happens is, the water is eroding the sand so quickly, and the house fell overnight,” Torres said. “We couldn’t believe it! Because it was like, ‘This is reality now.’”

Many of the homes carry historic and emotional value because they have been passed down through generations, Torres said. One neighbor said his grandmother built a home in the neighborhood in the 1950s, but it is now gone.

The storm’s impact extends beyond Dana Point. Laguna Beach activated its emergency operations center, while The Wedge and city piers in Newport Beach remained closed.

Crews working around the clock have built massive sand berms along the Newport Beach peninsula in an effort to prevent the coastal flooding seen Friday.

Newport Beach sand berms stand strong

Crews working around the clock have built massive sand berms along the Newport Beach peninsula in an effort to prevent the coastal flooding seen Friday.

Powerful surf and large waves crashed along the shoreline during high tide, but the water did not appear to make it beyond the barriers on Monday morning. The berms stand as tall as the Balboa Pier in some areas.

City crews and contractors have been reinforcing the coastline with several excavators and bulldozers. Homes and businesses sit just beyond the beach, and the city has been working to protect the community from additional flooding.

People who have lived in the area for decades said they had never seen the beach look this way. The high tide and storm surge also drew onlookers to the pier.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s amazing how quickly they got this done, because I was here last week, and they didn’t have all this. They hadn’t implemented this yet,” said Dustin Hopkins of Newport Beach.

Jim Redmond, a contractor visiting from Utah, said the crews were moving a significant amount of sand.

“It’s a lot of work. I’m actually, I’m a contractor in Utah and own excavators, and I was joking that we should bring them down here and run them down here, but yeah, they’re doing a lot of work. They’re moving a lot of dirt,” Redmond said.

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