Cracking Seawall Raises Concern In Laguna Beach As Strong Surf Pummels Coast

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — A cracking seawall designed to protect oceanfront homes in Laguna Beach is sparking concern as strong surf and high tides threaten to bring dangerous ocean conditions over Labor Day Weekend.

KTLA's Sky5 video showed the seawall, located on private property near Ocean Avenue, with long-running cracks shown between two beachside properties.

Steve Suer of Laguna Construction and Builder, who is working on a property nearby, told KTLA that he has watched the wall deteriorate over the past several weeks.

"The sand is washed out completely," he told the broadcast station.

The news comes after the City of Laguna Beach closed the Aliso Beach parking lot due to dangerous surf and the resulting erosion.

According to city officials, high surf over the weekend pushed a large amount of sand and water into the beach's parking lot, eroding the edges of the lot and a couple of nearby palm trees.

After shutting the lot down, city staff removed electrical lines near the at-risk palm trees to prevent further complications, city staff said.

More sand is being moved in to backfill and secure eroded edges of the lot, the city said.

The worsening erosion has drawn concern from many Laguna Beach residents, especially after Tropical Storm Marie strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane overnight.

Southern Californians were urged to brace for possible high surf, dangerous rip currents, flooding, rain and thunderstorms over Labor Day weekend.

Tropical Storm Marie strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane overnight while remaining well offshore, but Southern California should brace for possible high surf, dangerous rip currents, flooding, rain and thunderstorms over the Labor Day weekend.

Forecasters continue to put the odds of Marie directly striking SoCal as a hurricane or tropical storm at very low. The most likely track keeps the storm moving northwest and well southwest of the region through the holiday weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Even without a direct hit, moisture from Marie could be drawn into Southern California beginning this weekend.