High Tide Gives Residents Rude Awakening : Flooding: Strong winds in wee hours push waves up to 10 feet tall into garages of about 15 Seal Beach homes. Sandbagging is on with more seawater on the way today.

Residents were scrambling Saturday night to secure their properties with sandbags after 15 beachfront homes sustained mostly minor damage as waves as tall as 10 feet raced to shore and another high tide was predicted for early today.

The onslaught caught this beach town sleeping, as high tides and strong winds caused flooding in the garages of homes at 1:20 a.m. Saturday.

Residents of houses near 11th Street on Seal Way had to wade through knee-deep waters in their low-lying garages to move their cars and other belongings.

“I couldn’t believe it--everything in my garage was soaking wet,” said Brian Hoffman, who lives on Seal Way.

In the darkness, Hoffman said, dozens of residents lined their balconies to catch a glimpse of the encroaching, thunderous tides. Hoffman said he was awakened by his fiancee, Christine Peterson, who heard rumbling outside.

“When we peered over the balcony, the water was already about two feet high right directly below,” she said.

The Orange County Fire Department began receiving calls from worried residents shortly before midnight, and arrived soon after to assist in putting down about 900 sandbags along the asphalt walkway that separates homes from the sand.

“To have the water come up at this time is unusual,” said Maria Sabol, a Fire Department spokeswoman.

Lifeguards and residents said a 20-foot-high, mile-long sand barrier that was built at the beginning of winter might have prevented the flooding, but was taken down earlier in the week. It is usually dismantled around Easter, after the threat of high tides has subsided, to give residents and spectators a better view of the beach.

“This was not expected,” said Steve Cushman, a Seal Beach lifeguard.

Utility crews were dispatched to the area and turned off gas in five of the 15 homes.

In an effort to drain the waters back into the ocean, a bulldozer was brought in to dig a five-foot trench near the city’s pier.

Resident John Breiding woke up to what he thought was thunder. “It was pretty frustrating,” he said. “We couldn’t get sand from the beach because it was flooded. All most people could do was watch.”

By Saturday afternoon, hundreds of spectators had turned out to witness another high tide, which came at 4 p.m. but did no damage.

The next high tide was due at 4 a.m. today, and residents were working into the night shoring up their garages and elevated doorsteps.

“I’ve sandbagged everything and I’m going to seal everything tonight,” Hoffman said.