Newport Beach officials ordered every beach and pier closed Saturday as seawater kept pouring into the Orange County city.
The sweeping shutdown, announced by the city with no reopening date, came as crews raced to patch battered sand berms before another dangerous high tide hit the coastline. Newport Beach declared a local emergency Friday ahead of Tropical Storm Rachel’s approach, and by Saturday morning the situation was deteriorating fast.
“Due to ongoing flooding, all city beaches and piers are closed until further notice,” the city announced, urging the public to steer clear of the affected areas.
Mayor Lauren Kleiman stood alongside police and fire officials to press residents into action before the worst arrived. “We’ve worked all summer to prepare for this,” Kleiman said. She joined other officials in telling residents to prepare rather than wait for floodwaters to reach their doors.
The National Weather Service had already issued a coastal flood warning for Orange County beaches through 3 p.m. Sunday, cautioning that elevated ocean levels, strong onshore winds and building swells could cause significant flooding and beach erosion. The most dangerous window centers on high tide, when tides exceeding 7 feet could merge with powerful surf to inundate low-lying neighborhoods, roads and businesses. Forecasters expect waves of 5 to 7 feet, with sets as high as 9 feet possible.
Newport Beach City Manager Seimone Jurjis laid out the stakes during a Friday night press conference as officials detailed efforts to reinforce the coastline. “We’re planning for the worst,” Jurjis said.
Crews were still working Saturday morning to fill gaps in protective sand berms, raising fears of another round of flooding even as they scrambled to prevent it. The city has deployed teams to rebuild those berms, operate pumps and open tidal valves to drain flooded streets already underwater.
“Flooding and hazardous conditions pose serious safety risks,” officials warned, telling residents to follow closure orders and give emergency crews room to work. The city specifically urged residents to move vehicles to higher ground, protect properties with sandbags and never drive around barricades or attempt to cross flooded roads.
The Balboa Peninsula, a narrow strip of land jutting into the Pacific, has taken the brunt of the assault since Friday. Seawater rushed across the peninsula as Tropical Storm Rachel churned toward Southern California, threatening waterfront homes, streets and businesses with repeated inundation.
The weekend’s crisis follows months of preparation that city leaders now hope will limit the damage. Newport Beach has spent the summer reinforcing its coastal defenses in anticipation of exactly this kind of storm-driven surge, yet the speed and intensity of Rachel’s approach tested those plans immediately.
With the coastal flood warning extending through Sunday afternoon and no letup in the forecast, the city faces a prolonged emergency. The combination of astronomical high tides, storm-driven surf and already compromised berms leaves little margin for error as crews work through the weekend.
