{"id":493185,"date":"2026-10-12T02:16:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T02:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493185\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T02:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T02:16:29","slug":"long-beach-homeowners-devestated-as-tropical-storm-rachel-destroys-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493185\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach homeowners devestated as Tropical Storm Rachel destroys homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Beach residents have been left devastated after powerful waves<\/a> from Tropical Storm Rachel battered their multimillion-dollar beachfront homes, destroying properties, forcing families to evacuate and ripping apart a century-old boardwalk as yet another storm slammed Southern California.<\/p>\n

The destruction unfolded along the city\u2019s Alamitos Peninsula, where massive waves tore through wooden sections of the historic waterfront boardwalk, sending seawater rushing into homes and streets.<\/p>\n

At least eight buildings representing 13 addresses were red-tagged as unsafe to enter, while another was yellow-tagged, allowing residents limited access to retrieve their belongings, according to Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.<\/p>\n

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Natalie Cabrera, 59, stands near her home after its foundation was destroyed and suffered water damage during Storm Rachel on October 11, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif. Cabrera plans to move to Ontario to live with her son after being unable to stay in her home of just a year and a half. Marina Pena for the CA Post<\/p>\n

For some residents, the storm has meant watching their dream homes get swallowed by the ocean.<\/p>\n

Natalie Cabrera, 59, who has lived on the peninsula for just a year and a half, and rents a beachfront bungalow said she was devastated after the storm caused water damage to her home\u2019s foundation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to leave. At all. Ever. This was my dream,\u201d Cabrera said.<\/p>\n

Cabrera described how the relentless waves battered her property, sending water underneath the building and damaging everything inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe floor is squishy. Because the ocean just kept hitting and hitting my home, and the water went underneath,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fast as the water came, they\u2019re shoveling the sand out.\u201d Marina Pena for the CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWater didn\u2019t come through my front door. It came up from the ground.\u201d Cabrera said neighbors who had lived in the area for decades had never witnessed anything like it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy other neighbor\u2019s been here 30 years, and never, ever have they seen this. So I\u2019m a newbie to the neighborhood. And I\u2019m just devastated to have to leave,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cabrera said she was going to move to Ontario, where her son and daughter-in-law have a home. \u201cThat\u2019s where I grew up. So I guess I\u2019m just going to have to go back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Despite the devastation, Cabrera said she was grateful that her family and neighbors were safe and recalled how complete strangers rushed to help protect her property.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody just came together, total strangers. There was a young kid from USC, fishing. He saw the devastation of the waves just rushing through my front door, and he came.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fast as the water came, they\u2019re shoveling the sand out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Wells, 80, who has owned a home in Long Beach, Calif., since 1962, poses for a photo, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. Marina Pena for CA Post<\/p>\n

Robert Wells, 80, whose family has owned a summer home on the peninsula since 1962, said he had never witnessed such severe destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never happened like this before,\u201d Wells said. \u201cYesterday, and this morning, the water came right over here. And just took everything out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wells blamed the city\u2019s efforts to protect beachfront properties, arguing that a sand berm constructed to hold back the ocean actually made the damage worse.<\/p>\n

Scenes from the Long Beach Peninsula on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. Jon Putman for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more greater chances than not that if they hadn\u2019t put that berm there, that the damage would be minor. And now the damage is major,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had done nothing, it would have been better. They wouldn\u2019t have all this damage.\u201d Wells also claimed that residents were preparing legal action against the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a class action lawsuit forming against the city of Long Beach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, John Fernando, who has lived on the peninsula for more than a decade, said he evacuated his property as the tide began rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left when the high tide started building up around 9am this morning,\u201d Fernando said.<\/p>\n

For some residents, the storm has meant watching their dream homes get swallowed by the ocean. Marina Pena for the CA Post<\/p>\n

He described how the powerful ocean waves had stripped away layers of sand, exposing structures that had previously been buried beneath the beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s ever seen the rocks and the extra stakes in the sand until now when the ocean just ripped it out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fernando said residents had been working around the clock to protect their homes and help neighbors whose properties had suffered more extensive damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in this together. We\u2019ve all been protecting our own properties. And then when we could provide support, we\u2019d help each other out at the same time. This is definitely like 100% a group effort,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But with another unusually high tide expected, Fernando feared the destruction was far from over. \u201cThere\u2019s tomorrow, there\u2019s the king tide, so this is just the beginning, it\u2019s not over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The storm\u2019s destruction was particularly severe along Seaside Walk, where massive waves breached the protective bulkhead, damaged the historic boardwalk and left beachfront properties vulnerable to further erosion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a class action lawsuit forming against the city of Long Beach.\u201d Marina Pena for the CA Post<\/p>\n

Video captured a large crack running from the foundation to the roof of one waterfront home, while other footage showed powerful waves crashing into structures along the shoreline.<\/p>\n

By Saturday evening, parts of the damaged boardwalk had become inaccessible, with officials posting no-trespassing signs as emergency crews scrambled to reinforce the coastline.<\/p>\n

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for residents along Seaside Walk between 64th and 66th places, with the order scheduled to remain in effect until noon Tuesday, subject to changing conditions.<\/p>\n

The city also restricted vehicle access to the peninsula to residents only, allowing emergency crews to move equipment and supplies into the hardest-hit areas.<\/p>\n

Post-tropical Storm Rachel made landfall in northern Baja California, north of Ensenada, before moving inland and bringing heavy rain and flash-flood concerns to parts of the Southwest. Jon Putman for CA Post<\/p>\n

Long Beach officials distributed 7,600 sandbags to residents, bringing the total handed out during the three recent storms to approximately 15,000.<\/p>\n

Crews also deployed heavy equipment and massive sandbags to reinforce damaged sections of the seawall and prevent additional properties from collapsing.<\/p>\n

The latest storm comes after Southern California\u2019s coastline was battered by Hurricane Marie over Labor Day weekend and Hurricane Polo in the following weeks.<\/p>\n

In Newport Beach, officials declared a local emergency Friday after coastal flooding inundated streets along the Balboa Peninsula, prompting crews to construct protective sand berms and deploy pumps.<\/p>\n

Video captured a large crack running from the foundation to the roof of one waterfront home, while other footage showed powerful waves crashing into structures along the shoreline. Jon Putman for CA Post<\/p>\n

The city temporarily closed its beaches and shut down the Newport Pier, Balboa Pier and the Wedge as officials worked to prevent additional damage.<\/p>\n

Orange County officials coordinated the distribution of tens of thousands of sandbags, while public works crews used bulldozers to reinforce vulnerable stretches of shoreline.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, powerful winds reached the Inland Empire, where footage showed a structure being ripped from the ground as two people desperately attempted to hold it down.<\/p>\n

Post-tropical Storm Rachel made landfall in northern Baja California, north of Ensenada, before moving inland and bringing heavy rain and flash-flood concerns to parts of the Southwest.<\/p>\n

Back in Long Beach, residents were left assessing the damage to their homes and wondering how long it would take to rebuild.<\/p>\n

Dave Uff, who has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years, said his home on 63rd Place had been spared after he surrounded it with sandbags, but several of his neighbors had not been as fortunate.<\/p>\n

Long Beach officials distributed 7,600 sandbags to residents, bringing the total handed out during the three recent storms to approximately 15,000. Jon Putman for CA Post<\/p>\n

Dave Uff, who has lived in the community for the past 12 years, poses in Long Beach, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. Marina Pena for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Seaside Walk, some of the fronts of the homes have been destroyed. On 63rd Place, a lot of water and sand intrusion, that\u2019s going to be hard to mitigate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the worst anybody\u2019s ever seen it. The people that have been here for 60 years say this is the worst they\u2019ve seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the losses, Uff said residents were determined to help one another recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a very tight community here, and what affects one affects all. And some of our neighbors have lost their homes. We\u2019re all hurting for them. We\u2019re all helping out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re heartbroken, but we\u2019re steadfast, and we\u2019re doing what we can to keep things normal, as normal as possible, and waiting to rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n

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