Several days of destructive waves from Tropical Storm Rachel leave 8 buildings marked red in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — Destructive waves from the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel continued to crash into homes on the Long Beach Peninsula for a fourth day, leaving several properties on the brink of ruin and inspectors with little time to assess the damage before the next high tide.

So far, eight buildings along the promenade have been marked red, affecting 13 individual addresses, while one building has been marked yellow. That number could change as inspectors take a closer look at the damage.

Crews had a small window of daylight between high tide Sunday evening and another high tide arriving around 10 a.m. Monday to inspect homes and determine if any additional buildings should be red-tagged. They will have another brief window before high tide Monday evening.

Video taken overnight shows the worsening damage caused by the relentless waves, including broken windows and doors. The destruction extends beyond the exteriors of homes, with waves sweeping sand from beneath buildings and potentially displacing their foundations.

One house had a crack extending from its foundation to the roof, and the front half of the building appeared to have moved.

“When waves hit these structures, they push soil away from the foundations and substructures of these buildings, potentially weakening the foundations of these buildings,” said Dan Fox, president of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California.

A mandatory evacuation order remains in effect for residents of 64th and 65th Streets along Seaside Walk.

“Long Beach is on sand, right? We’re built on sand. If the ocean gets far enough into the structures where the sand is, it sucks it out. That’s what happens,” said Long Beach resident Gabriella Holt. “I’ve lived here for 12 years and I’ve never seen anything… even this collapse.”

Some of the sand berms built along the beach to protect homes were completely washed away.

Neighbors told Eyewitness News that although they sandbag and prepare for high waves and flooding every year, they were not mentally prepared for this level of destruction.