The National Weather Service downgraded Rachel to a post-tropical system early Thursday morning at 2 a.m., but the storm’s remnants continued to lash coastal California with heavy rain, strong gusts and surf that breached sand berms along the Alamitos Peninsula. Oceanfront properties in Long Beach and Newport Beach found their front yards partially submerged, while a coastal flood advisory stayed in force through Sunday, covering the shoreline from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay area.
State officials, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, have activated an emergency proclamation issued on September 21 and declared a local emergency in Long Beach on September 22. “That means getting flood-fighting supplies into position, bolstering our water infrastructure, and helping communities across the Golden State prepare,” Newsom said, emphasizing the need for rapid distribution of more than 4 million sandbags over 50,000 feet of portable flood barriers and 400,000 tons of rock to reinforce levees and vulnerable shorelines.
Coastal damage and structural tags on the Alamitos Peninsula
Long Beach fire inspectors and city crews inspected the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk after the high tides surged over the boardwalk around 1 a.m. on Friday. Their findings resulted in two red tags – indicating structures unsafe for entry – and three yellow tags which allow owners to retrieve belongings but prohibit habitation until repairs are completed. Combined with a yellow-tagged home damaged during Hurricane Marie, a total of five buildings now carry official damage designations.
The persistent wave energy also ripped through about 30 feet of the Peninsula bulkhead between 65th and 66th Place. Crews worked during low tide to replace the destroyed lumber and shored up the remaining section with roughly 1,000 sandbags. To date, Long Beach has handed out more than 6,300 sandbags for Rachel and over 13,600 for the three recent storms, urging residents to keep their own supplies ready for the winter storm season.
Statewide flood-fighting preparations
Beyond Long Beach, the governor’s proclamation authorises the pre-positioning of critical resources across California. Inspectors are reviewing dams, strengthening pier pillars and reinforcing coastal defenses through a seven-point protection plan that includes major sand-replenishment projects slated for the winter months. The aim is to buffer communities against the strongest El Niño on record, a pattern that brings hotter ocean temperatures, record-setting rainfall and heightened risk of mudslides.
Forecasters warn that the combination of high tides, lingering storm surf and low-pressure systems could produce secondary flooding through Sunday’s peak tide, projected at about 7.6 feet at the San Pedro reference station. The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood advisory lasting until Tuesday afternoon, with the most hazardous window expected on Sunday morning.
Broader regional impacts
While California wrestles with Rachel’s fallout, Mexico faces its own storm threat. Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 system, hovered roughly 60 miles offshore near Manzanillo, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to advise residents to stay indoors and continue precautionary evacuations to safe zones.
Further inland, the storm’s moisture belt sparked rockslides that temporarily closed roads in the desert Southwest, and Las Vegas shattered a daily rainfall record on Sunday. The National Weather Service also placed a flood watch over much of Utah, including Salt Lake City, where heavy rain is expected to begin Sunday evening.
With El Niño expected to dominate the 2026-27 winter, officials stress that the current response to Rachel is only the first step. Ongoing monitoring, sandbag distribution and structural repairs will continue as coastal communities brace for potentially historic surf heights and persistent flooding through the coming months.
