Newport Beach is racing to finish a massive sand wall before weekend waves strike.
The Orange County city, 47 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, has deployed extra contractors alongside municipal crews to build protective berms in just four days — a job that normally stretches across two weeks. Officials are spending thousands of dollars to accelerate the work as three hurricanes churn across the Pacific Ocean and threaten the coastline with high surf, rain and flooding.
“We heard reports that [Hurricane Marie] might turn towards us, but if it does turn towards us, we wanna make sure we’re prepared for it,” Zac Gentry, the city’s municipal operations director, said.
The closest of the three storms, Hurricane Marie, is not expected to make direct landfall in California. The system is forecast to intensify to Category 2 strength on Saturday before weakening as it tracks westward from its current position off Baja California. Even without a direct hit, experts warned that the hurricane’s energy could generate dangerous conditions along the West Coast through the holiday weekend.
“Realistically, we’re more worried about Sunday and Monday. We’ll have additional crews here to make sure it’s protected if anything goes on,” Gentry added.
The city learned hard lessons from 2020, when 20-foot-high, 6-foot-wide berms failed against king tides. Waves breached the defenses and flooded a parking lot, damaged roughly a dozen vehicles, and grounded a sailboat. This time, Newport Beach is constructing the barrier at 20 feet high and 20 feet wide — more than triple the previous width.
“We probably used 200,000 cubic yards, give or take,” Gentry said of the sand volume going into the reinforced structure.
Several excavators were already moving sand across the beach earlier this week as the accelerated schedule took shape. The compressed timeline reflects the urgency city officials feel with the weekend approaching and potential storm effects looming.
The ocean itself poses immediate risks even before any storm-driven surge arrives. Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda cautioned that current conditions can quickly turn deadly for anyone in or near the water.
“[The ocean] can sweep your feet out from under you and wipe you out to sea in a very short matter of time,” Yacenda said.
City officials have urged residents and visitors to exercise extreme caution at the beach throughout the weekend as the region monitors Hurricane Marie’s development. The storm’s track and intensity will determine whether the hastily built defenses face their ultimate test.
Newport Beach plans to keep additional crews stationed near the berm through Monday to address any breaches or damage.