Officials Brace for High Tides, Hope for Low Surf

As the sun, moon and Earth conspire to threaten record high tides this week, state, county and city officials are preparing to stand watch on the Orange County coastline.

Potential record high tides of more than seven feet are due along the Orange County coast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and officials fear a repeat of the flooding and high surf that caused more than $100 million in damage to California homes and businesses in 1983.

The National Ocean Survey has predicted that Thursday’s high tide will average 7.5 feet along the California coastline.

That tide may not cause any significant flooding on its own, even in the low-lying coastal areas, unless and offshore storm occurs at the same time, in which case flooding could be severe, experts say.

In Orange County, only Newport Beach has aggressively prepared for the high-water threat. “We put in about 600 man-hours and about 10,000 sandbags,” said Merle Milne, city field operations superintendent for public works.

“In the 1983 storm, we had quite a bit of flooding,” he said. “We want to prevent it this time.”

City workers built a mile-long sand barrier on the Balboa Peninsula beach and sandbagged segments of the bay side, Milne said. They also laid sandbags to reinforce seawalls along Balboa Island’s north and east Bay Front and to protect low portions of West Newport.

Officials in other coastal cities have opted not to embattle their coastlines for the possible onslaught of seawater.

“All we can do is wait and see,” said Terry Brandt, director of municipal services in Laguna Beach. “We’ll have sandbags on hand.”

Huntington Beach’s public works staff “will be on alert,” said Paul Cook, city public works director, but “notwithstanding any storms, we don’t anticipate any problems except in the Sunset Beach area.”

There, and in neighboring Huntington Harbour, many residents have been shoring up their own homes’ bulkheads with sandbags, which are available at the county fire station.

“You can’t reasonably expect to protect buildings once they’re built,” said Capt. Lynn Hughes of San Clemente’s Marine Safety Department. “One wave can take the efforts of two days of sandbagging away if there’s high surf. It’s one of the few things you can do, but it’s a token effort.”

Dan Eberle, chief of the county office of disaster preparedness, said his agency has “put the word out about the high tides.”

“There’s not a lot we can do beyond just keeping our eyes open and making sure people are alerted,” Eberle said. “If we get the lethal combination of high tide and big storms, there is the potential for serious damage.”

South Orange County beaches are “fairly broad now,” San Clemente’s Hughes said. “Right now, we have fairly good protection with the amount of sand we have.”

The reason for the concern is the coincidence of two astronomical phenomena: syzygy, which is a near alignment of the sun, moon and Earth, and perigee, which is the point nearest to the Earth in the orbit of the moon.

But officials are hoping none of this worrying is necessary.

“If there are no accompanying storms to make the seas more angry, we don’t foresee any problems,” said Huntington Beach’s Cook.

Late Sunday, the National Weather Service predicted two- to four-foot surf for Orange County beaches Monday, with little change expected Tuesday.

Mostly sunny days with no storm warnings were forecast. New Year’s Day was expected to be fair with high temperatures of 73 degrees.

Most officials agree that without a storm or high surf, this week’s tides probably will bring only minor flooding and scattered street closures, like those experienced in Sunset Beach and Newport Beach earlier this month.

The San Diego County coastline has not been so fortunate, however. Storms have swept away sand, leaving narrow, cobbly beaches that form a scant buffer between the ocean and residents’ homes.

Many cities in San Diego County are building temporary seawalls and sand berms, laying sandbags, making contingency plans and providing information to coastal residents.

“We could have a 12-foot tide and suffer no damage, possibly,” Hughes said.

“But traditionally, Mother Nature or King Neptune . . . has provided the surfers with good surf for Christmas and New Year’s,” he said. “Santa Claus must surf.”

Times staff writers Jenifer Warren and Juan Arancibia contributed to this story.