Seal Beach Community Rallies After Boardwalk Flooding

When the ocean finally backed away early Monday morning, a rag‑tag crew of volunteers—neighbors with shovels, city workers in bright vests, and a lone street sweeper making one last pass—found themselves knee‑deep in a mess of driftwood, sand, and discarded trash. The high surf that had breached the sand berms over the weekend left the boardwalk looking more like a shallow lagoon than a promenade.

Jon Cockrill, who’s lived behind the strand for three decades, stood at the edge of his garage watching the water recede. “If the surf is just as high and the tide’s higher, the math says it’ll come over the berm again,” he said, half‑joking, half‑worried. He’s already stacked wooden boards against his garage door and piled sandbags in front, hoping that the improvised barrier will hold.

Not everyone was so cautious. Despite the warnings, crowds still flocked to the beach and pier, drawn by the promise of big waves. Brothers Levi and Jack Krueger even turned the flooded boardwalk into an impromptu waterway, kayaking and skimboarding where the water lingered. “We grabbed our skimboards and just slid around,” Jack recalled with a grin, though he admitted the fun was short‑lived as the forecast turned ominous.

City Public Works crews had been on the job through the night, pumping water out of flooded streets and keeping storm drains clear. By dawn, they were back at it—dragging out debris, hauling away broken trash cans, and scrubbing out clogged drains. “A lot of trash came in,” said Allie Brooks, a volunteer. “There’s a ton. That’s the only sucky thing for down here.”

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service kept the warning flags flying. A Coastal Flood Advisory and a High‑Surf Advisory remained in effect through Tuesday night, with forecasts calling for breaking waves between four and seven feet, and occasional sets that could top ten feet. Lifeguards at nearby Newport Beach warned that only strong swimmers should venture into the water, and they logged over 185 rescues and 7,500 preventive actions over the weekend.

Even with the rain gone, the ocean’s mood stayed aggressive. Surfers and bodyboarders packed The Wedge, chasing the relentless swell that had already turned the boardwalk into a temporary river. “It’s a gamble living here,” Cockrill said, “but it’s worth it—until tomorrow, when the story might be different.”

For families like the Kruegers, the excitement of a kayak ride turned into a lesson in caution. While the boys hoped for another boardwalk expedition, their dad decided to keep them out of the water until the storm moves farther offshore. “The surf is just too much right now,” he explained.

As the day wore on, trash bags were filled, sandbags stacked, and a tentative sense of normalcy returned to Seal Beach. Yet the community remains on edge, eyes fixed on the horizon and ears tuned to the next weather alert—ready to act again if the sea decides to come back for another round.