Powerful waves from Hurricane Marie have caused coastal flooding in southern California. In Long Beach, ocean water has reached homes, forcing coastal residents to shore up buildings with sandbags. The bad weather also brought rare heavy rain and thunderstorms to the region in September, and Malibu beaches had to be temporarily closed due to lightning. The hurricane itself passed hundreds of miles off the coast and weakened to a tropical storm by Monday.
On Monday morning, residents along Long Beach's shoreline hurriedly filled sandbags to try to keep the water out of their homes. A day earlier, parking lots at Seal Beach and Zuma Beach flooded. In Long Beach, water entered some homes. Local officials closed the boardwalk due to dangerous conditions and asked those who do not live on the Long Beach Peninsula not to come just to see the action.
“It’s really dangerous here,” one resident told KTLA.
Marie itself is located hundreds of miles from California and does not approach the state directly. The hurricane formed off the coast of Mexico and then began to move across the Pacific Ocean. However, the powerful southern swell it created reached the coast of Southern California and coincided with a period of particularly high tides.
The tide was expected to rise above 7 feet (2.1 meters) by Monday, according to NBC Los Angeles. Waves of 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) are expected on south- and southwest-facing beaches, while waves of 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 meters) are expected on west-facing beaches. High surf and coastal flood warnings are in effect for portions of the coastline of Los Angeles and Orange counties until 11:00 Tuesday evening.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that strong rip currents could sweep swimmers and surfers out to sea, while large waves could knock people off their feet on beaches and cliffs and even capsize small boats offshore. People were urged to stay away from piers, breakwaters and coastal cliffs and “never turn your back on the ocean.”
On Sunday, Malibu authorities temporarily closed city beaches due to lightning. Rescuers began moving people off the coast around 12:40 p.m. as the storm moved from Santa Monica toward Malibu. At Point Dume State Beach, powerful waves continued to erode a coastal slope that suffered erosion back in August.
In addition, heavy rain and thunderstorms occurred in several Southern California counties on Sunday, including Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino. Flood warnings included downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita.
In Arcadia, due to rainfall, residents and the local police station were left without electricity. Thick fog blanketed the Los Angeles coast and downtown on Sunday, with up to three-quarters of an inch (about 19 mm) of rain falling in some areas at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Even more rain was recorded at Long Beach Airport with 0.68 inches (17 mm). This marked a new record for September 6: the previous high, set in 1971, was only 0.12 inches (3 mm). Prior to this, there had been no measurable precipitation in the region for several months.
However, University of California climatologist Daniel Swain called the precipitation mostly beneficial: he estimates it carries little risk of flooding while reducing the likelihood of wildfires from dry thunderstorms.
Following the rains, Los Angeles County officials advised against going into the ocean at all beaches until at least September 9. Stormwater runoff can cause the concentration of bacteria in the water to spike.
Although Marie continues to weaken and move away from California, high surf will continue until at least Tuesday evening. And then the heat should return to Southern California: by Wednesday, temperatures in some areas could rise to 95-105° F (35-41° C).
