Swells and storm surge driven by Rachel flooded streets on Newport Beach's Balboa Peninsula and broke through a protective wooden bulkhead on the Long Beach Peninsula, damaging homes and tearing planks from the boardwalk, before the storm's remnants dissipated over the Southwest on Sunday. Rachel never made landfall in California — its center moved onshore over northern Baja California and crossed the U.S. deserts as a weakening post-tropical system — but the waves it pushed north still caused serious damage along the Orange County and Long Beach coast.

Newport Beach City Manager Seimone Jurjis, acting as director of emergency services, declared a local emergency on Friday, Oct. 9, after flooding began Thursday night on the Balboa Peninsula, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported. The city said the declaration was meant to secure additional resources for protecting public and private property.

The risk is not over for beachfront households. A coastal flood advisory for parts of the Southern California coast runs through 2 p.m. PDT Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to the National Weather Service, and repeated swells have already stripped away sand that normally protects homes from the surf.

Bulkhead Breach Damages Five Long Beach Structures

The worst structural damage came on the Alamitos Peninsula in Long Beach. Waves broke through the wooden bulkhead, which residents treat as the neighborhood's last line of defense, letting water reach homes and side streets, the Long Beach Post reported via LAist. Residents stood in shin-deep water Friday as vehicle access closed at 62nd Place.

City inspectors issued preliminary red tags, meaning a building is too dangerous to enter, for two structures in the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk. Three more buildings received yellow tags, which allow owners brief entry to retrieve belongings. Two of those yellow-tagged buildings had been damaged weeks earlier during Hurricane Marie.

City spokesperson Craig Nakano said no one had been displaced by the tagging because one red-tagged property was under construction and the other was vacant. Crews placed about 1,000 sandbags to fill a roughly 30-foot gap in the bulkhead between 65th and 66th places. "Protecting our residents is our top priority as high surf and erosion impact our Peninsula community," Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement.

By Saturday, the damage had grown. More than half a dozen houses along that stretch of coast had been declared structurally unsafe, the Associated Press reported in CBS News' live coverage. Richardson said the impacts were not normal for the community, and called them "unprecedented for our community."

A Rare Tropical Storm Watch and a Record-Warm Ocean

Rachel's approach also brought a rare alert. In its 2 p.m. PDT advisory on Saturday, Oct. 10, the hurricane center kept the watch in place from the U.S.-Mexico border to the San Diego/Orange County line and warned that "Moderate to major coastal flooding is expected."

Climate scientist Daniel Swain flagged how unusual that was ahead of the storm. "For only the second time in history, NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a Tropical Storm Watch" for part of Southern California, he wrote on Weather West. He attributed Rachel's unusual staying power to ocean temperatures he described as 10 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit above average, and he said that coastal water levels were already 12 to 18 inches above normal before the storm arrived.

The hurricane center's last advisories confirm how the threat shifted. At 5 a.m. PDT Sunday, post-tropical Rachel was centered about 130 miles northeast of San Diego with 40 mph winds, and Mexico had discontinued its tropical storm warnings for Baja California's Pacific coast. In its final discussion Sunday morning, the center said Rachel had dissipated over the southwestern United States, while noting that "Major coastal flooding has already been occurring in some areas."

Swain linked the warm water to a strong El Niño, a prolonged marine heat wave and long-term climate change. No formal attribution study has examined Rachel itself, and the coastal damage also reflects a season of repeated swells from Hurricanes Marie and Polo that eroded beaches before Rachel arrived.

Who Faces the Greatest Risk Along the Coast

The highest risk falls on low-lying, south-facing neighborhoods where beaches have already been stripped. That includes the Balboa Peninsula and the Long Beach Peninsula, where homes sit directly behind sand berms or bulkheads. Patch Los Angeles, citing the National Weather Service, also named Malibu, Zuma Beach and Catalina Island among vulnerable areas.

Timing matters most around high tide. The Weather Service forecast the greatest flooding threat around Sunday morning's tide, which FOX 11 put at about 7.6 feet at San Pedro, and conditions are expected to ease gradually after that. Waves overtopping a berm, water pooling in streets during a rising tide, or new gaps in a bulkhead are signs to move vehicles and valuables to higher ground and report damage to the city.

Newport Beach is offering free prefilled sandbags at its Corporation Yard on Superior Avenue, with empty bags available at fire stations and from lifeguards. Officials urged people never to drive through flooded streets, and both cities asked the public to stay away from damaged shoreline areas while crews work between tides.

Costs and Recovery for Peninsula Homeowners

Repair costs are likely to fall heavily on individual owners — and on city budgets. Standard homeowners insurance policies generally exclude flood damage, which requires a separate flood policy, so residents should photograph damage before cleanup, keep receipts for emergency repairs and contact insurers promptly.

Long Beach has said it plans a multimillion-dollar dredging project to rebuild the eroded Peninsula beach, though it has not published a cost, and longer-term fixes are expected to cost more. The city has distributed more than 13,600 sandbags across three recent storms. Long Beach declared a local emergency on Sept. 22 after earlier storm damage, and Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation on Sept. 21.

Several questions remain open. Officials have not released a total count of damaged homes in either city, and inspectors in Long Beach are rechecking at-risk homes twice a day. It is also unclear when the bulkhead will be permanently repaired.

The bottom line is that Rachel did not make landfall in California, yet its surge did serious damage to two of the region's most exposed beach communities. Residents on the peninsulas should follow city instructions, keep an eye on high-tide times through Tuesday, and treat any new breach as a reason to move to higher ground.

What Readers Want to Know

Did Rachel make landfall in California?

No. Rachel's center moved onshore over northern Baja California and crossed the southwestern U.S. as a weakening post-tropical system before dissipating Sunday.

Which areas were hardest hit?

Newport Beach's Balboa Peninsula, where flooding prompted a local emergency, and the Long Beach Peninsula, where waves broke through a bulkhead and damaged homes and the boardwalk.

How many homes were damaged in Long Beach?

As of Friday, city inspectors had red-tagged two structures and yellow-tagged three. The AP reported Saturday that more than half a dozen houses had been declared structurally unsafe.

How long will coastal flooding last?

A National Weather Service coastal flood advisory runs through 2 p.m. PDT Tuesday, Oct. 13, with the greatest risk around high tide.

Where can residents get sandbags?

Newport Beach offers free prefilled sandbags at the Corporation Yard on Superior Avenue, and empty bags at fire stations. Long Beach residents should check with the city.

Does homeowners insurance cover the damage?

Standard homeowners policies generally exclude flood damage. Residents should check whether they have a separate flood policy and document damage before cleanup.