Residents and city officials on Tuesday, Sept. 8 were preparing for the possibility of more coastal flooding along the Peninsula neighborhood of Long Beach after damage to a seawall and boardwalk led to the evacuation of nearly 20 residential buildings on Monday, Sept. 7, authorities said.
Long Beach fire officials, along with building inspectors, planned to assess the damage to homes on Tuesday, Fire Department Capt. Jake Heflin said, with the possibility that at least some residents could return if the buildings are structurally safe.
Heflin said 19 buildings were evacuated on Monday. He believed the buildings contained about 24 homes.
Building Department assessors were out Monday night, but they could not survey the damage due to darkness and hazards, Heflin said.
High tide and intense waves caused damage to a boardwalk and seawall in the 6000 block of Seaside Walk in Long Beach Monday night, Sept. 7. (Photo by RMG News)
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)
High tide and intense waves caused damage to a boardwalk and seawall in the 6000 block of Seaside Walk in Long Beach Monday night, Sept. 7. (Photo by RMG News)
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)
High tide and intense waves caused damage to a boardwalk and seawall in the 6000 block of Seaside Walk in Long Beach Monday night, Sept. 7. (Photo by RMG News)
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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High tide and intense waves caused damage to a boardwalk and seawall in the 6000 block of Seaside Walk in Long Beach Monday night, Sept. 7. (Photo by RMG News)
“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, which started earlier in the week, were brought in part by the effects of 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.
Video from RMG News, a freelance news organization that sometimes works with the Southern California News Group, shows sand piled on top of the boardwalk and wood planks broken and sunken in at various points.
Some homes had wood planks and sand bags placed in an attempt to block water and sand from getting through.
Jill Gibson told the outlet that she’s lived on the peninsula all her life and had “never seen anything like this.”
She said the community worked Monday shoveling sand, filling up sandbags and boarding up windows.
Some residents have been hit by waves and debris and were sent to a hospital.
“It’s just heartbreaking that here on the ocean side, the boardwalk is gone,” Gibson said. “You can’t go walking like you do every morning.”
While officials were planning to assess homes, they were also planning for another day of high tide, Heflin said.
“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,” Heflin said. “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.”