The 8-Foot Tide Hit SoCal This Morning — Newport's Berms Held, Long Beach's Boardwalk Didn't
In 60 seconds: Southern California's feared Sunday-morning high tide arrived at nearly 8 feet — and the coastline split into two stories. Newport Beach's sand berms held the ocean back; Long Beach's century-old boardwalk broke apart, evacuation orders stretched into Tuesday, and officials warned the citywide damage may not be over.
- Sunday's high tide peaked at 7.6 to 8 feet — "unprecedented" for the area, Long Beach fire officials said.
- Newport Beach held: "Things are looking good. Our berms are staying strong," the city's public information manager said Sunday.
- Long Beach didn't: the city reported "significant damage" along Seaside Walk between 64th and 66th places; 8 homes are red-tagged and mandatory evacuations run through Tuesday noon.
- Post-tropical Rachel made landfall in northern Baja California, north of Ensenada. The heaviest rain has passed, but a coastal flood advisory runs through Tuesday 2 p.m.
- That viral "tsunami in Huntington Beach" video? Debunked — it was Rachel's swell, not a tsunami.
Sunday morning was the moment everyone along the Southern California coast had been dreading. The high tide came in at 9:48 a.m. in Newport Beach — and it brought the ocean with it. Now that the water has pulled back, the coastline has split into two stories: one city held the line, and the other is picking up the pieces.
What happened
The tide everyone feared arrived right on schedule — and nearly as high as forecasters warned. Gauges showed 7.6 to 8 feet of water, and Long Beach Fire Department Assistant Chief Jake Heflin didn't mince words: "We're looking at an unprecedented high tide, potentially 7.8 to 8 feet, which is significant for this area." Stack that on 4-to-7-foot waves and Rachel's southerly swell, and you get the worst coastal flooding setup the region has seen in years.
But the outcome depended on the city. Newport Beach spent the week building sand berms, closing piers, and pumping streets — and it worked. "Things are looking good. Our berms are staying strong," public information manager Georgia Rios said Sunday. Long Beach, battered by two earlier storms, took the hit squarely: the city reported "significant damage" between 64th and 66th places along Seaside Walk.
Latest verified facts
Long Beach's damage is the season's worst: eight structures red-tagged as unsafe, one yellow-tagged, the historic boardwalk's slats torn out — inaccessible by Saturday evening behind "No trespassing" signs — and one waterfront home cracked from foundation to roof. Stacey Sniezak, a 65th Street resident of 45 years, told ABC7: "It's really heartbreaking... people are losing their houses. It's just impossible to fix at this point."
The mandatory evacuation order for the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk remains in effect through noon Tuesday, October 13 — and on Saturday the city widened an evacuation warning to 64th, 65th, and 66th Places south of Ocean Boulevard plus the 6200, 6300, 6600, and 6700 blocks. Vehicular access to the Peninsula is now restricted to residents only.
Rachel came ashore as a post-tropical cyclone in northern Baja, north of Ensenada — sparing San Diego the worst but throwing rain bands east into Arizona, where flash-flood warnings went up. Palomar Mountain got 3.99 inches in 24 hours; Palm Springs 1.16. Inland, video showed a structure ripped from the ground as two people tried to hold it down.
Related coverage: Homes Red-Tagged, Beaches Shut, Evacuations Ordered: Tropical Storm Rachel Is Battering Southern California · After 100° Heat, Southern California's First Rain in Months Lands Sunday
Why it matters
Three hurricanes in six weeks — that's what Mayor Rex Richardson kept coming back to: Marie over Labor Day, then Polo, now Rachel's tides, surf, and erosion. The city has handed out roughly 15,000 sandbags across the three storms, 7,600 for Rachel alone.
Scientists see something bigger: a pile-up of Rachel's swell, a Kelvin wave, record-hot ocean water, and El Niño pushing tides one to two feet above normal. Researchers warn similar conditions could recur through a long El Niño winter. Sunday was a preview reel.
The split is the lesson. Newport spent the summer preparing — berms, pumps, 30,000 sandbags, bulldozers, county pump crews. It held. Long Beach's Peninsula, already chewed up by Marie and Polo, had no margin left. Preparation was the whole ballgame.
Impact on the USA and the world
For US coastal cities, this is the new math: higher baseline seas turn a nuisance storm into water a foot or two further inland — straight into living rooms. Insurers and planners from San Diego to Miami are watching.
Then there's the information side: a viral video claiming a tsunami hit Huntington Beach racked up views before anyone checked. There was no tsunami — no warning was ever issued. It was Rachel's swell, plain and simple. In a weekend of real emergencies, the fake one still stole attention.
What happens next
The immediate danger is easing but not gone: the heaviest rain has passed, though light rain arrives Monday and the coastal flood advisory runs through 2 p.m. Tuesday. Tides stay near 7 feet, so surf and rip-current risks linger. The evacuation order runs through noon Tuesday, and Orange County's postponed sand replenishment at Capo Beach is rescheduled for Tuesday.
Our take: three storms in six weeks is no longer a fluke — it's the opening act of an El Niño winter, and Southern California's coastline just showed everyone exactly where it's weakest. Newport proved serious preparation works. The question is whether every other coastal city was watching.