Above: Aerial photo taken on Sept. 11, 2026, showing of a portion of the Hurrican Marie impacts to the Peninsula, including the boardwalk, bulkhead and shoreline.

Long Beach, CA – Following significant impacts seen along the Peninsula's shoreline related to high tides, surf and swell brought about by Hurricane Marie over the past several days, the City of Long Beach is sharing its preparedness, response and mitigation efforts conducted. While conditions continued to intensify through the weather event, which led to flooding and damage to property and public infrastructure in parts of the Peninsula, damage and impacts to City services were minimized due to City and community preparedness.

"Long Beach prepared well for the impacts of Hurricane Marie, and that preparation and the swift response of our City crews kept this situation from becoming worse," said Mayor Rex Richardson. "Impacts of this scale are a sobering reminder of the power of Mother Nature, as well as the importance of always being prepared for an emergency. I want to thank our incredible City crews for their critical work. That work continues as we assess and continue to conduct cleanups and repairs."

The City's emergency response structures played a vital role in mitigating impacts on the Peninsula. Long Beach has a well-established emergency management system that includes interdepartmental coordination between Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications, Public Works, Fire (LBFD), Police, Health and Human Services (Health Department), and Parks, Recreation and Marine (PRM), among others. This integrated approach allows for efficient internal coordination and communications, and timely and effective response efforts to ensure the safety of residents and safeguarding of City services.

"Our Peninsula community showed incredible strength this week, and I want to thank the residents who prepared, helped their neighbors, and stepped up throughout this emergency," said Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan. "I also want to thank our first responders and City crews who worked around the clock to protect life and property. I spent most of the weekend on the Peninsula and saw the impacts firsthand. Now our focus needs to be on repairing the damage, preparing for the upcoming El Niño, and working with our coastal engineers on immediate protections and long-term solutions for the Peninsula."

To minimize significant damage and dangerous situations along the Peninsula's shoreline, extensive preparation efforts were conducted in the days leading up to and throughout the storm. While these efforts helped to mitigate damage to much of the Peninsula, portions of the bulkhead and the pedestrian boardwalk sustained significant damage as conditions intensified. Waves came over the boardwalk and onto City streets. As such, several private residences experienced seawater intrusion. Out of an abundance of caution, LBFD ordered the evacuation of over 20 addresses between 63rd and 67th Place on Monday night, Sept. 7. The pedestrian boardwalk and surrounding beaches were closed in full. For public safety, vehicular access to the Peninsula was restricted to residents only, ensuring City crews could continue their critical work and conduct emergency repairs.

These critical emergency repairs to the bulkhead held through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, with no additional major damage reported to public infrastructure or properties. City crews inspected previously impacted residences for any major structural damage or electrical or other safety hazards that would prevent habitation. One residence was yellow tagged due to significant damage to the pedestrian boardwalk that restricted access to the property. No residences were red tagged, or deemed completely uninhabitable due to safety hazards. On Wednesday morning, Sept. 9, evacuation orders were lifted and the Peninsula was reopened to vehicular traffic. A portion of the boardwalk and beaches between 63rd and 68th Place remains closed to the public as crews continue to assess and repair damages.

This response used a significant amount of Citywide Fire Department resources. The following is a list of highlights of the work that was conducted by the City:

Preparedness and Mitigation

• Built, monitored, rebuilt and fortified protective sand berms along the Peninsula shoreline – a mile-long wall of sand about 9 feet high by 9 feet wide.
• Conducted back passing to relocate drifted sand back to Peninsula, an effort to rebuild beach. Approximately 230,000 cubic feet of sand was moved each day.
• Installed 130 sheets of plywood boards to the sea wall in vulnerable areas of the Peninsula to help with splash over.  
• Installed lumber and anchors on the bulkhead as additional reinforcement.
• Installed four 12-foot concrete k-rails adjacent to the 72nd Place Parking Lot to mitigate water intrusion by redirecting incoming waterflow back onto the beach and away from Peninsula roads.
• Deployed two dozers, three front loaders, two 30-ton dump trucks, three 10-ton dump trucks and two tractors used to build berms
• Monitored and cleared storm water drainage channels as needed.
• Installed and monitored seawall plugs in Naples.
• Inspected, monitored and cleared catch basins, paying close attention to areas of known localized flooding.
• Inspected and monitored City-managed pump stations.
• Prepared emergency response equipment such as vacuum trucks, emergency generators and lighting for deployment to be utilized citywide as needed to respond to urgent situations.
• Numerous crews were on site and on standby to address flooding, catch basin cleaning, pump station failure, road closures, tree service and infrastructure failure, as well as support the community as requested.
• Ordered mandatory evacuation of over 20 residences. Residents were informed and supported door-to-door and notified via AlertLB.
• Opened an evacuation center for residents impacted by the evacuation orders.
• Opened a direct information line to provide residents evacuation updates.
• Coordinated with Long Beach Transit to provide transportation from the Peninsula to the evacuation center.
• Rescue boats and lifeguards patrolled the beach and water, addressing needs as they were identified or requested.
• Rescued two surfers as debris prevented their safe return to shore.
• Activated sandbag centers at Claremont Beach Lot and Lifeguard Station at 72nd Place and Ocean Boulevard. Lifeguards supported sandbag operations for 15 hours daily, as well as delivered sandbags directly to those in need.
• Deployed 1,600 pre-filled sandbags to support community.
• Inspected 19 structures for any major structural damage or electrical or other safety hazards that would prevent habitation
• One residence was yellow tagged due to significant damage to the pedestrian boardwalk that impacted access to the property.
• Despite impacts and limited access on the Peninsula, Energy and Environmental Services continued refuse collection services, going door-to-door to engage and support residents.

Emergency Operations, Coordination and Communications

• Stood up a Mobile Command Center and were fully operational in unified command across multiple departments.
• Coordinated with regional, state and federal partners, including Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and National Weather Service, in intelligence sharing.
• Activated the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and LBFD's Search and Rescue.
• Issued seven alerts via the Alert Long Beach notification system directly to Peninsula residents and community members in proximity to the impacted area, reaching approximately 45,000 residents.
• Issued a heat alert and heat safety information as Long Beach simultaneously experienced excessive temperatures that impacted residents and crews.
• Kept the community informed with 15 weather- and emergency-related social media posts across activated City departments, reaching an audience of approximately 260,000 people.
• Conducted dozens of press interviews and responded to dozens of written media inquiries.

While conditions are improving, cleanup and repair efforts are ongoing. Efforts that have been taking place include:

• Sand, trash, debris and fallen tree limb cleanup and removal.
• Cleaning parking lots and marinas.
• Addressing standing water as a result of flooding.
• Developing remediation plans for impacted public infrastructure such as the boardwalk and bulkhead. Review and assessment is ongoing by professional engineers and will help determine the City's path forward.

Boardwalk Repairs

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While the City, in close coordination with professional coastal engineers, reviews and assesses solutions to fully repair the boardwalk, Public Works is conducting interim repairs in close coordination with PRM and Building and Safety. Multiple site inspections were conducted this week to assess damage and current conditions. During the weather event, Public Works and PRM implemented stabilization measures and repaired damages to bulkhead segments through reinforcement measures and adding sheathing to prevent further damage. Public Works immediately engaged the coastal engineering firm Moffat & Nichol to evaluate the damage and develop protection plans. The City is preparing information needed to take next steps with regulators on repair and protective measures and is gathering material lead times and cost estimates to inform upcoming actions. An update on the inspection and the City's next steps is expected in the next two weeks.

Efforts to Keep Local Beaches Safe
As cleanup and repair efforts are underway, the City remains committed to ensuring local beaches, marinas and waterways are clean, safe and welcome for all. As part of its current practice, City crews conduct routine maintenance daily along the shoreline and Peninsula, including building sand berms and conducting back passing which harvests redeposited sand and relocates it back to where it came from. Typically, sand is harvested at 54th and 55th Places and returned to the area of beach between 63rd to 67th Place on the Peninsula to ensure public access to the coast. These ongoing efforts are conducted year-round and structurally built into the City budget to address beach erosion and safeguard the shoreline and vulnerable Peninsula area. An added layer to these efforts, done in preparation and response for significant weather systems such as El Niño, include bringing in additional crews from Public Works and Port of Long Beach to expand the scope of existing operations, should the need arise.

While this work remains a critical effort, the effects of changing operational conditions and climate and the more frequent occurrence of high tides and larger southern swells during hurricane season continue to create scenarios where back passing can no longer keep up with the strong pull of sand from the beach. As such, PRM Beach Maintenance and Public Works teams continue to work together to identify effective and feasible longer-term efforts.

This fall, the $9.27 million Alamitos Bay Channel Dredging Project will begin and is expected to place 415,000 cubic yards of beach ready sand on the Peninsula. This project, approved by Long Beach City Council in August 2026 and supported by Tidelands and Marina Capital Funds, is expected to extend the beachfront out approximately 200 feet from 72nd Place to 63rd Place – a needed buffer to ease wave action and flooding over the boardwalk in the impact zone. While this effort will achieve a much-desired result, it will not stop the ocean from pulling sand from the Peninsula with every wave, especially during the significant weather systems Long Beach continues to experience. Back passing will need to continue to return sand back to the Peninsula each day until more permanent, long-term man-made and environmental solutions can be identified, permitted and implemented. Longer term solutions continue to be reviewed with the assistance of professional coastal engineers, and any solution will require extensive permitting and approval from the California Coastal Commission.

Importance of Community Preparedness
This event was a humbling reminder of the ongoing effects of climate change and the importance of emergency preparedness. The City of Long Beach would like to reassure its residents that the City has the plans and systems in place to address natural disasters and other emergencies and wants to emphasize the need for residents to do their part by preparing now. Emergency preparedness resources are available on the City's Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications website. More information can also be found here. Residents of the Peninsula are strongly encouraged to prepare today for future potential impacts that are expected given the historic El Niño activity expected later this year.

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About the City of Long Beach
Long Beach is nestled along the Southern California coast and home to approximately 466,000 people. As an award-winning full-service charter city, Long Beach offers the amenities of a metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods, culture and community. With a bustling downtown and over six miles of scenic beaches, Long Beach is a renowned tourist and business destination and home to the iconic Queen Mary, nationally recognized Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach Airport, award-winning Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and world-class Port of Long Beach.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

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