Naples in Long Beach is protected by a man-made seawall, and repairs are underway on the nearly 100-year-old infrastructure as part of a six-phase plan. Recent storms and king tides have raised concerns in the community as to the integrity of the seawall.<\/p>\n
The city of Long Beach evaluated the Naples Seawall in 2009 and found it to be in significant disrepair.<\/p>\n
So far, only two phases of the repair plan are complete, and there’s an issue with funding the remaining four phases of the project. The city originally used oil money for the first two phases, but a 2022 state law limiting oil drilling has reduced available revenue.<\/p>\n
Residents and officials hold differing views on the immediate priority of coastal protection versus recreational infrastructure.<\/p>\n
When high tides and king tides hit Naples, water spills over the seawalls in some spots nearly two feet deep, flooding sidewalks and threatening homes. The city said that, in September, it installed and monitored seawall plugs in preparation for the impacts of Hurricane Marie.<\/p>\n
“Some neighbors don’t have an issue, and other neighbors’ houses are going underwater, and it’s pretty ridiculous to watch that in real time,” resident Ben Fisher said.<\/p>\n
Fisher is president of the Naples Improvement Association and shared a video from Saturday during Tropical Storm Rachel showing water shooting through the seawall.<\/p>\n
“Because everybody that has those flooding issues, they have to replace things after every flood, so that’s consistent damage that happens over and over,” Fisher said.<\/p>\n