Surfside Occupied by High Tide

High tides and pounding surf left parts of Surfside flooded Tuesday, but homeowners like Mike Donovan have seen enough big waves over the years to take it in stride.

“This is only the beginning, dude, only the beginning,” said Donovan, 53, a six-year resident of the upscale enclave near the mouth of Anaheim Bay.

Continued high surf along with heavy rain is expected through the end of the week, though officials said they are taking steps to prevent a repeat of Tuesday’s flooding.

The cleanup effort in Surfside turned into an impromptu block party, with some residents hoisting glasses of beer and wine as they stood in the calf-deep, dirty brown water while others took shovels to the sand.

Jessie, a neighborhood dachshund, surveyed the scene from atop a boogie board floating down the narrow beachfront alley. Jessie was joined by Matt Donatoni, who paddled his kayak through the alley past more than 20 garages flooded by the extreme high tide.

Still, officials said damage was minimal, and residents insist they got off easy. Donovan said that back in 1983, the water was so high that people needed boats to get through. That same El Nino storm system damaged the nearby Seal Beach Pier and battered homes.

On Tuesday, water began to pour into Surfside Avenue, the alley behind the homes, shortly after 8 a.m., when the high tide broke through a section of a 4-foot-tall sand wall built on the beach last weekend to help prevent flooding. Waves were as high as 8 feet.

The tide also flooded the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Anderson Street on the border of Seal Beach and Sunset Beach, slowing early-morning traffic to a crawl as cars and an occasional bicycle slogged through the water.

Officials used bulldozers Tuesday to build a bigger sand wall in front of Surfside in anticipation of more high tides, heavy surf and rain over the next few days.

The 10-foot-tall sand wall should hold back the sea, although “we thought we were prepared” on Tuesday, said Steve Badum, director of public works for Seal Beach.

Badum said flooding was caused in part by slow erosion of sand on the beach. The city has asked the Army Corps of Engineers to increase the amount of sand it periodically dumps on the beach to counteract erosion.

Surfside residents stacked sandbags and moved valuables out of their garages to prepare for more high tides this week.

Rain is expected to begin tonight, including a chance of thunderstorms. The wet conditions will continue through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service. Waves of up to 7 feet are also forecast for Seal Beach today and Thursday.

“It’s kind of the price you pay” for living in a beachfront home, Badum said. “You have to take the good with the bad.”