Floodwaters get dangerously close to Seal Beach oceanfront homes

Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Floodwaters get dangerously close to Seal Beach homes
Some residents in Seal Beach on Monday said the city was unprepared for the big deluge of rain over the weekend, which triggered dangerous flooding - and it's not the first time.

SEAL BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Some residents in Seal Beach on Monday said the city was unprepared for the big deluge of rain over the weekend, which triggered dangerous flooding - and it's not the first time.

It was a tedious task for Public Works crews who were beginning to pump out at least 2 feet of water in front of several beachfront homes.

Shelly Bolander, who manages one of the properties on Seal Way, said she's upset with the city for allowing this to happen. She added that a pump generally staged there during inclement weather was borrowed to use in a different neighborhood.

"Unless my tenant is wearing galoshes, he's calf-to-ankle deep trying to get into his home," she shared.

The rain hasn't been the only concern. The conditions off the coast prompted the National Weather Service to issue a beach hazard statement, meaning the surf is higher than normal.

Loads of sea trash, as well as part of a sofa, washed up to the beach because of that high surf.

Some people in the area took advantage of the conditions. One man chose to paddle board down the street.

A man paddles through Seal Beach after a major SoCal storm flooded a neighborhood on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
A man paddles through Seal Beach after a major SoCal storm flooded a neighborhood on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.

Surfers put on a show that was more reminiscent of water skiing, being pulled across the flooded beachfront by a truck's towing wench.

Locals said when it rains this bad, sand bags aren't enough.

"Because of the onslaught of the rain, the wind and the waves, it never seems to really help out," shared Seal Beach resident Fred Cianciolo.

As the rain showers tapered off Monday afternoon, city crews remained fast at work, hoping Sunday's spectacle was the worst of it.