Long Beach Ramps Up Coastal Defenses As Hurricane Polo Swells Approach: Reports

LONG BEACH, CA — Long Beach is reinforcing its battered Peninsula shoreline ahead of another potential round of high surf and erosion from Hurricane Polo, less than three weeks after powerful waves generated by Hurricane Marie stripped away protective sand and damaged coastal defenses.

Crews have built several-foot-high sand berms along the shoreline as the city prepares for the possibility of renewed flooding, ABC7 reported Friday.

"We saw 18 feet of height of sand disappear in three days and so now that's obviously been built up a little bit," Long Beach Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Jake Heflin said.

"We're obviously not quite there to where we were originally but we're still doing what we can to move as much sand as we can to fortify the berm and extend the beach," he told ABC7.

The city is also testing large, heavy-duty sandbags as a temporary means of reinforcing the wooden seawall, city spokesperson Laath Martin told the Los Angeles Times. Those preparations come as forecasters track swells generated by Polo and Hurricane Odalys, neither of which is expected to make landfall in California.

The National Weather Service said beach impacts from Polo are possible Monday and Tuesday, including high surf and beach erosion. Its marine forecast says swells from both hurricanes will affect Southern California coastal waters into the middle of next week, with the largest southeast swell from Polo likely Monday and Tuesday.

Conditions could begin changing as early as Sunday, although the hurricanes' effects are expected to be most noticeable Monday and Tuesday, according to the Times. Forecasters cautioned that considerable uncertainty remains over how large the surf will become and how severe any coastal flooding could be.

Peninsula Still Vulnerable After Marie

The latest threat arrives with one of Long Beach's most vulnerable stretches of coastline still recovering from Hurricane Marie. Days of powerful waves earlier this month overwhelmed protective sand berms on the Peninsula, damaged the seawall and boardwalk and sent water into streets and homes. Heflin told ABC7 that 24 homes were evacuated at the height of the swell event.

Marie also stripped away so much sand between 62nd and 69th places that crews have been unable to get trucks onto that section of beach to rebuild the berm, City Manager Tom Modica told the Long Beach Post.

Crews have instead been reinforcing the berm on either side of the depleted section, while damaged portions of the boardwalk have been temporarily replaced with plywood as engineers assess the wooden seawall. The timing of Polo's swell is another concern because it coincides with astronomical high tides.

National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Zuber told the Times that the incoming swells do not appear to be approaching Southern California at an angle that would ordinarily produce major effects. However, already elevated water levels mean even a modest increase in surf could contribute to additional erosion and flooding.

Residents Urged To Prepare

Long Beach officials are urging Peninsula residents to prepare in case conditions deteriorate. "Have a plan with your family if you do need to leave," Heflin told ABC7. "If you're going to evacuate, where are you going to go, who are you going to stay with?"

Residents who received sandbags following Hurricane Marie have been encouraged to keep them in place through the approaching swell and the winter storm season, according to the Long Beach Post.

The preparations come just days after the Long Beach City Council ratified a local emergency proclamation Tuesday in response to the damage caused by Marie and the threat of further coastal impacts during the developing 2026-27 El Niño and winter storm season. The declaration gives the city additional flexibility to expedite contracts, bring in crews and equipment, stockpile supplies and coordinate with other agencies as conditions warrant.

Longer-Term Protection Planned

Long Beach is also working toward a more substantial restoration of the Peninsula shoreline. The city plans a $9.75 million dredging project that would move approximately 415,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Alamitos Bay channel and use it to widen the Peninsula beach by about 260 feet, according to the Long Beach Post.

Work has been expected to begin in late October, although Modica said officials are looking for ways to accelerate the project as the city prepares for the possibility of additional damaging surf and a potentially wetter winter.

For now, officials are focused on rebuilding as much protection as possible before Polo's swell reaches Southern California.

The hurricane itself is not forecast to strike California. Instead, Long Beach is preparing for waves generated hundreds of miles away to reach a coastline that has yet to recover from the last major swell.

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