Newport Beach Erects Higher Berm to Spare Further Flood Damage

On Friday night and Saturday morning, waves crashed over the sand at the Balboa Pier and into parking lots and streets, destroying a sailboat.

Cars make their way through flooded streets in Newport Beach on Friday, July 3, 2020.
Matt Hartman/Shorealonefilms

Newport Beach was able to avoid a second consecutive night of flood damage amid a weekend high tide warning thanks to a larger sand berm, officials said Sunday.

On Friday night and Saturday morning, waves crashed over the sand at the Balboa Pier and into parking lots and streets, destroying a sailboat.

The following night, workers increased the size of their sand berm and it worked a lot better, city spokesman John Pope said.

"Knowing how the ocean behaved on Friday, the crew knew how high to make the berm," Pope told the OC Register. "We were pretty confident the new berm would hold, based on what we had seen before."

The tide peaked at 6.5 feet at 8:25 p.m. Friday, according to USHARBORS, an online service provided for boaters.

The National Weather Service issued a high surf advisory through noon Monday warning that waves and surf of five to seven feet with sets to eight feet were likely.

Pope said it could take five to seven days to clean up all the sand and debris from nearby streets.

Copyright City News Service
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