Long Beach switched focus to recovery and rebuilding its boardwalk and community Tuesday in the wake of the powerful surf triggered by the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel that pounded the Long Beach Peninsula and inflicted further damage on a row of already-devastated homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not out of the woods yet,\u201d Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson told reporters at a Monday afternoon news conference. \u201c\u2026 But we are beginning the work toward recovery. So, for the families displaced from their homes, this means facing those difficult questions about when you can return to your home, what comes next. We\u2019ll continue to stand with you and work with you to get those questions answered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coastal flood advisories will remain in effect until 2 p.m. Tuesday for Los Angeles County beaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Beach Hazards Statement Tuesday through Thursday morning will likely be issued following the Coastal Flood Advisory expiration on Tuesday for the LA\/Ventura County Beaches,\u201d said the National Weather Service. \u201cThis is due to minor tidal overflow continuing to be possible during morning high tides (remaining around 6.5 feet) and the 2 foot 15-16 second southerly swell continuing to impact the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richardson announced Saturday evening that eight structures comprising 13 residences had been red-tagged and another structure was yellow-tagged after waves pounded a portion of the Long Beach waterfront beginning Friday, in an area already battered by coastal erosion.<\/p>\n
A red tag indicates that a structure is unsafe to be occupied, while a yellow tag allows a property owner to enter temporarily to retrieve belongings but prohibits occupancy until the building is deemed structurally safe.<\/p>\n
Richardson said all of those restrictions remained in place Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamage to affected properties continues to worsen, but no additional buildings have been tagged at this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Homes in the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk remained under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday evening, while evacuation advisories were lifted for most other Peninsula residents, including those on Naples Island and Treasure Island, according to city officials.<\/p>\n
The city announced at 6:15 p.m. Sunday that the broader advisories had been lifted, but evacuation warnings remained in effect for Peninsula residents on 64th, 65th and 66th places south of Ocean Boulevard, as well as homes in the 6200, 6300, 6600 and 6700 blocks of Seaside Walk.<\/p>\n
The Peninsula remained closed to nonresidents, with street closures beginning at 62nd Place. Residents and visitors were urged to avoid damaged coastal infrastructure and follow directions from emergency personnel.<\/p>\n
Some sand berms built after a previous round of high surf were washed away in spots over the weekend. Damage was visible to the boardwalk, with debris floating offshore as waves washed around and beneath waterfront homes.<\/p>\n
City officials said 10,000 sandbags had been distributed to residents preparing for the storm, and urged residents and businesses to keep their sandbags for possible future storms. Sand and sandbag distribution sites were also activated at fire stations throughout Long Beach.<\/p>\n
The city developed a seven-point plan to strengthen protection of the Alamitos Peninsula, including repairing damaged infrastructure, replenishing beach sand, creating additional protective barriers and pursuing longer-term coastal protection projects and funding, officials said.<\/p>\n
City Manager Tom Modica told reporters Saturday that crews had begun moving 45,000 cubic yards of sand to add 200 feet of width to the storm-battered beach.<\/p>\n
That work is expected to be followed the week of Oct. 19 by a project to add another 50,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand to the beach, followed by construction of a new low-profile rock abutment. Much of the funding for the projects would come from Tidelands funds, according to Modica.<\/p>\n
Officials said construction-grade cranes were being used to lift sandbags weighing more than 3,000 pounds into place to support the seawall.<\/p>\n
The mayor noted that the city is also looking to the future, with additional powerful storms anticipated in the coming months thanks to the treacherous El Ni\u00f1o conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also know that this is one of the first three storm events during the El Ni\u00f1o season, which will not be the last,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the goal here is not simply to replace what has been damaged. We will certainly make our infrastructure safe. We\u2019ll repair the boardwalk. But this is about making sure that we\u2019re taking steps to have a more resilient coastline in the years ahead for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 Three major storm systems in six weeks has certainly exposed vulnerabilities in coastal communities, and we have to prepare for even more severe conditions through this El Ni\u00f1o season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Long Beach officials urged residents and visitors to stay off beaches, coastal walkways and vulnerable roads and structures, and warned motorists not to drive around barricades or through floodwaters of unknown depth.<\/p>\n
City officials said crews would continue monitoring coastal conditions and assessing damage.<\/p>\n
Residents were encouraged to register for emergency notifications through Alert Long Beach at AlertLB.com and monitor updates at longbeach.gov\/emergency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach switched focus to recovery and rebuilding its boardwalk and community Tuesday in the wake of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[174,78825,21672,131,133,132,17730,4495],"class_list":["post-495592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-beach","tag-begins","tag-boardwalk","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-rebuilding","tag-recovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}