The city of Long Beach announced its plan to protect residents and properties from the high surf and tides from Tropical Storm Rachel and implementation continues Friday.
In response to hazardous coastal conditions related to Tropical Storm Rachel, Long Beach city and fire inspectors completed another review of structures threatened by rising tides and high surf Thursday. On the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk, the city issued preliminary red tags for two structures and one yellow tag for an additional building to ensure resident safety. Combined with the previous yellow-tagged building from Hurricane Marie impacts, there are now four damaged structures, two red-tagged and two yellow-tagged.
A red tag indicates that a structure is unsafe for entry and a yellow tag indicates that a building owner can enter temporarily to gather belongings but cannot stay until the house is deemed structurally safe.
The National Weather Service downgraded Hurricane Rachel from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm on Thursday morning at 2 a.m.
Video from Long Beach, taken at about 1 a.m. Friday, showed high tides emerging over the boardwalk.
Weeks after Hurricane Marie and the subsequent Hurricane Polo, city crews have been working to protect residents with ongoing storm response and mitigation efforts, a seven-point coastal protection plan and upcoming major sand replenishment projects to rebuild the beach and strengthen the community’s defenses for the winter storm season, the city of Long Beach announced Thursday night.
“Protecting our residents is our top priority as high surf and erosion impact our Peninsula community,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “I appreciate our emergency response teams working together to identify unsafe conditions and support our residents through these unprecedented storm surges. I urge residents to be prepared and follow city guidance as we respond to these coastal impacts.”
Persistent wave energy caused additional damage to the peninsula bulkhead between 65th and 66th Place, with approximately 30 feet of the bulkhead experiencing significant damage, the city said. Crews worked during low tide to repair as much as possible while conditions allowed and fortified the remaining area with approximately 1,000 sandbags where the existing lumber had been destroyed by wave action.
The impact from Rachel comes just weeks after two other hurricanes brought significant impacts to the Long Beach coastline and the Peninsula.
Community members are urged to get sandbags now and keep them through the winter storm season. Thus far, the City has distributed more than 6,300 sandbags in preparation for Hurricane Rachel and over 13,600 across these three recent storms.
“The Peninsula is experiencing unprecedented surf and swells that are continuing to put city infrastructure and private property at risk,” said Councilmember Kristina Duggan. ”Our City teams are working between tides to repair the damaged bulkhead and deliver sand to vulnerable areas wherever possible. Conditions are expected to remain critical through the weekend and into next week.”
The city’s storm preparation and response this week and during the recent storms are part of its broader efforts for the developing El Niño and winter storm season.
In alignment with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Sept. 21 emergency proclamation, the city of Long Beach proclaimed a Local Emergency on Sept. 22 to prepare for potential El Niño impacts. The proclamation allows the city to take extraordinary preparedness measures and exercise the emergency powers authorized to prepare for and respond to the threatened impacts of the 2026-27 El Niño and winter storm season.