Garden lands in Bayside Drive

NEWPORT BEACH – As rain continued to pelt the region, city crews pumped water off low-lying islands in Newport Beach and mud swept a private garden off a hillside Wednesday morning.

Large concrete blocks and metal handrails tumbled onto Bayside Drive, landing a few hundred feet east of the Balboa Island bridge.

On Balboa Island, city workers spend a third day pumping water out of streets. A 6-foot high tide at 9 a.m. prevented rainwater from flowing out of storm drains. The crews used a mechanical pump to divert water into the bay.

It was unclear if water reached into residences.

Bay water breeched a seawall, the city workers said, on Newport Island earlier Wednesday. Newport Island is behind the 38th Street basketball courts in West Newport.

A Newport Beach building inspector who was assessing the damage on the Bayside Drive mudslide said that the home’s foundation was not in danger. He declined to give his name because he is unauthorized to talk with the media.

The garden was likely built without city permits, he said, so it was not structurally sound.