Newport Beach Neighborhood Flooded: Sea Wall Breached Overnight

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Neighbors in the 36th Street neighborhood of Newport Beach were awoken Wednesday night when they discovered their homes were flooding.

The flooding was reported just after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of 36th Street on Balboa Peninsula, where a contractor was doing demolition work at a home and accidentally knocked down the wall, the Newport Beach Fire Department reported.

Witnesses stated that the contractor doing demolition work took out a seawall, taking out the top portion of the wall. Residents said it happened quickly, as water crept into garages and yards, at times over 12-inches high.

"Within about 5 minutes the water was ankle deep," David Declark told reporters.

Neighborhood children took to the flooded streets with their inner-tubes and boogie boards, paddling around while the grown ups dealt with the flooding.

Fire crews pumped water away from homes and put up sandbags to keep water out of homes, fire officials said.

The flooding over the broken seawall began when the high tide came in at just before 9 p.m. Wednesday. With neighbors upset about damages to property in their garages, frustration is evident. There will be more cleanup to do Thursday, with sand and water still in the street.

Patch has reached out to the construction company responsible for that property for comment. They are listed as a luxury home builder in Orange County.