Wide swaths of the American Southwest faced severe drenching on Sunday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel weakened and moved inland, though coastal communities already battered by heavy surf emerged with less damage than some officials feared, latimes.com reported.
Storm Downgrade Brings Relief Alongside Persistent Coastal Threats
The National Weather Service announced Sunday morning that Rachel was no longer classified as a tropical storm. Despite the downgrade, significant hazards persisted across the region. Waves continued to smash against beachfront homes in Long Beach, large rocks and mud poured down mountain slopes onto a highway south of Palm Desert, and floodwaters submerged the parking lot of a casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The National Hurricane Center warned that these waves, combined with an incoming long-period southerly swell, will cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,
and added that coastal flooding and erosion were expected to worsen that morning as the highest waves coincided with high tides and water levels running well above predicted levels. Total rainfall from the system could reach 1 to 3 inches, with maximum amounts in some areas hitting 5 inches, stretching from Southern California into the Great Basin and the U.S. Southwest.
While the weakening of the system brought some respite, meteorologists warned that risks would remain along the California coast through Tuesday, compounded by long-term concerns over an active upcoming El Niño season. Although the heaviest rains had passed, sporadic showers and elevated high tides were expected to linger for several days.
Severe Impacts in Long Beach and Coachella Valley
The Long Beach Peninsula suffered some of the most visible coastal damage in California. Following high tides that washed away a portion of the historic wooden boardwalk on Saturday, saltwater surged into a two-story yellow oceanfront house on Seaside Walk on Sunday. The home’s wooden deck was entirely engulfed by the ocean, and a detached balcony hung precariously at a 30-degree angle toward the water. Yellow caution tape fluttered in the wind as waves poured into a debris-strewn room containing an upturned refrigerator and television. According to two Long Beach Fire Department lifeguards, the yellow house began to collapse on Sunday morning, while a neighboring residence sustained visible cracks in its exterior walls and other properties suffered submerged or failing wooden decks.
Coastal flood warnings remained active across San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, noted that south-facing beaches were particularly vulnerable due to high tides driven by warm ocean water and lower atmospheric pressure associated with Rachel’s remnants.
Further inland, six miles south of Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley, rainfall triggered mudslides and debris flows. National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Wheeler reported that rocks and mud blanketed both the eastbound and westbound lanes of California 74 near Mile Marker 89.
In Las Vegas, the storm shattered daily precipitation records. The National Weather Service stated during a morning briefing that the city recorded 1.08 inches of rain since midnight, breaking the daily record for October 11 with hours of precipitation still expected. Berc noted during the briefing, And we still got 14 hours left to go.
Community Response and Flood Defenses
In Long Beach, municipal workers raced against the incoming high tide on Sunday morning to construct a sand berm extending westward from 62nd Place. City groundskeeper Robert Quinonez operated alongside a track hoe operator, expressing doubt that the temporary barrier could be built high enough to stop water from spilling into streets as it had the previous day. Meanwhile, Robert Martin shoveled a pathway out of sand for the water to flow at the peninsula.
