Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
Early rumors say that a contractor doing home repairs remove the seawall at low tide. Low tide didn’t last long. More details as we get them.
UPDATE @11:54pm:
Earlier today, a construction crew knocked down a seawall in need of repair, neighbors say that the teardown was a step to the repairs, but they did not take into account changing tides. As the high tide (6.3 feet) occurred at 8:43pm on Wednesday, the walls immediately began flooding the area, and within minutes it began to enter the garages and homes of locals.
As the tides naturally began to subside, the water retreated back into the ocean and city crews began laying down sandbags in order to help mitigate the damage.
The next high tide is Thursday morning at 9:58am which will produce a 4.2 foot high tide.
Contrary to news reports in the area, this is neither a King Tide nor a Red Tide, but the next King Tide will be coming soon– next month on June 21.
As many residents are out of the area right now and others have not discovered the full extent of damage, we may not know how bad it is for several more days.
A truly terrible event caused by someone who likely disregarded the tides when determining when to dismantle the sea wall. Our thoughts are with the residents of the 164-unit area known as the Finley Tract, at the top of the Balboa Peninsula between the Bank of America building and the Pavilions.
UPDATE2 @9:01am: The property near 3694 Short St, originally on the market for $2m, had longstanding seawall damages. Estimates for the seawall repair (which owners there are responsible for) was $100,000. After the house was razed, it appears likely that the seawall was also torn down in an attempt to rebuild it– however, there was no indication of repairs being made before the tide rose. If this construction was put off “until tomorrow”, then this strategy was doomed from the start. While we’ll have a 4.2 tide today at 9:58am, the real test will be tonight at 9:24pm when a 6.5ft high tide hits. Hopefully the city crews can devise a scenario to hold the ocean back.
If you are a resident, The Corporation Yard has free sandbags and is located at 592 Superior, and is open until 3 p.m. today. Please bring photo ID and follow the signs for staff to load your vehicle. Call 949-644-3055 for more information.
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Video here:
