Hurricane Marie leaves iconic California beach nearly unrecognizable as erosion crisis explodes

This iconic California beach looks unrecognizable after Hurricane Marie devastated its shores, forcing officials to take action.

The city of Laguna Beach declared a local emergency after swells from Hurricane Marie battered its beaches and eroded its shores, endangering oceanfront homes. The threat of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter also prompted the declaration.

“Swell beginning September 2 caused significant sand movement and erosion that is still ongoing,” the city said in a press release. “The proclamation allows the City to move immediately on emergency shoreline protection, sand placement, debris removal, assessments and repairs without the delay of ordinary contracting procedures.”

Laguna Beach City Manager Dave Kiff, acting as the city’s Director of Emergency Services, said the amount of sand stripped from the shoreline was unprecedented.

“Most of us have never seen this much sand leave our beaches at once. We expect it to come back, but we are not counting on it, and with a very strong El Niño forecast we need the ability to act quickly to protect homes, beaches and public infrastructure.”

While the worst of Hurricane Marie is over, the emergency declaration gives the city greater freedom to shore up its coastline and repair damage before the expected El Niño potentially brings another round of punishing conditions.

The city says six oceanfront homes on Ocean Way and Lagunita Drive have been yellow-tagged
due to compromised sea walls, and the parking lot at Aliso Beach has “partially failed.” The south end of Lagunita Beach, Pearl Street Beach, the footpath at Christmas Cove and the Aliso Beach parking lot are also temporarily closed.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center projects “a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event” during this fall and winter and a “75% chance of a historic event that would exceed the strength of previous El Niño events dating back to 1950.”

John Warrick, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, described the challenges ahead to NBC Los Angeles.

“The summertime storms have been fairly excessive this year, which has impacted those beaches that are directed toward the south,” Warrick said. “This coming winter, we’re expecting the storms in the North Pacific to cause all the challenges.

“And so generally in El Niño, those storms off the North Pacific are larger than normal, and so, by all means, we most likely will be seeing different beaches impacted this winter than we’re seeing this summer,” he added.

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