With a Super El Niño forecast for later this year that could bring more powerful waves and tidal action along the Orange County coastline, several cities are preparing for mutual aid and, hopefully, help from the county and state.
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, San Clemente joined two other Orange County coastal cities in declaring a state of emergency after recent heavy surf and surging tides from Hurricane Marie wreaked havoc.
Following significant damage to sections of the city’s beaches and public infrastructure, San Clemente leaders also agreed to allocate $1 million to immediately replenish sand in North Beach, one of the most affected areas, with City Manager Andy Hall finding the most and cheapest sand to truck in.
The council also directed Hall to pursue any available county, state, or federal resources for emergency funding.
Some of the damage, Hall said, includes the loss of a pylon and at least 17 braces on the San Clemente Pier, flooding of coastal access points such as Linda Lane and the tunnel to the beach at Riviera, increased maintenance costs to protect critical infrastructure, and damage to private property. Repairs to the pier alone could cost at least $300,000. Repairing or restoring private property could cost more than repairing public property, Hall said.
In nearby Dana Point, where last week 10 houses along Beach Road were red-tagged, with one partially pulled into the ocean and seven more were yellow-tagged, the council also recently declared an emergency. As did Laguna Beach after four homes were yellow-tagged and the city’s popular Aliso Beach had significant property damage at the beachfront and parking lot.
“Hopefully, the county will join us,” said San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler, who had already signed the emergency proclamation last week at the urging of Assemblymember Laurie Davies, expecting that the rest of the council would be on board.
OC Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley called this week for the Board of Supervisors to also declare a local emergency. The heavy surf has also further damaged the Orange County Transportation Authority rail line where it runs beachfront in south OC.
“We need to act with urgency, help our cities recover, streamline permits to get sand back on our beaches,” she said, adding the county also needs to prepare for a winter of storms.
The county had activated its emergency operations center at a low level as of Sept. 11 because at least two local cities had declared an emergency.
“That also means that we have our portal for local agencies, school districts and the county to input all the costs and expenses so we can get a reimbursement,” Foley said previously.
Most of the higher surf and tides would likely start in November and continue through early 2027, forecasters have said, which is also when the King Tides typically come.
With the declaration, cities have an opportunity for mutual aid from state agencies, Hall said, “Which allows us to take care of things quickly.”
It also lets cities adjust rules to address the emergency, he added. But he said that, in order for cities and counties to get assistance, the damage countywide has to exceed $15.5 million.
While the recent south swells have actually added sand to San Clemente’s beaches, most notably near the lifeguard headquarters, Hall cautioned that in late fall and winter more of the wave and surge action comes from the north.
“We want to be prepared for that,” he said, adding that areas to bolster with berms include the restrooms at North Beach, T-Street near the volleyball courts, and the small cafe.
“Could there be funding available to place additional sand?” he asked. “We want to get repairs made as quickly as possible to protect our community and our coastline.”
During the recent storm surges, Loeffler said he personally watched as water came up against a home along the stretch of beach just north of T-Street and not far from Beach Road.
Councilmember Victor Cabral agreed that North Beach needed more sand and said his concern with past discussions is that it’s always been about ‘let’s do a study’ and more research.
“This is an emergency,” he said. “If there was a fire on the hillside near homes, we wouldn’t be talking about it as let’s go study and see how we can protect those. It’s a crisis, and we need to address it, and we need to do what we did in the past. We need to put sand at North Beach. Many residents there talk about the difference in their homes being saved and the ones down the road from them not being saved is the sand this City Council put on the beach. It protected them.”
“We have an obligation to address this; we know there is bad weather coming,” he added, suggesting the council approve up to $1 million for sand. “We know there is an El Niño coming. We have an opportunity in the short term to make sure they weather the storm.”
Hall said the emergency declaration could also help the California Coastal Commission issue a permit extending the boundaries of how far north sand could be dumped at North Beach to include Capistrano Shores, only about 100 feet to the north, if the logistics work out. Most likely, the sand would come from inland, like Palm Springs or the Prado Dam, he said. For $1 million, city officials can’t rent a dredge to pull it from offshore.
In 2024, the city already added about 200,000 cubic yards of sand between T Street and Linda Lane near the pier, and another 37,000 at North Beach. That sand came from a source off Surfside and Sunset Beach in northern OC.
In the end, the council agreed that making the declaration was critical.
“The unique thing is that we can see the emergency coming,” said Councilmember Mark Enmier. “We, as a city, have to do everything so we are not on the back end of this emergency later. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
(Staff Writer Laylan Connelly contributed to this report.)