The flooding occurred in and around the 500 block of 36th Street on Balboa Peninsula. At times it got knee-deep residents said. Some homes and vehicles were reported damaged.
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Neighbors and officials tell Eyewitness News that a contractor was doing demolition work at a house site and took out part of a seawall. The flooding began when the tide came in.
"We did have a residence down here that was under construction," said George Murdoch, an official with the city of Newport Beach. "A portion of the seawall was removed and flooded most of the streets down here. Fortunately not many homes were flooded. We have a couple that have gotten water in the house."
Neighborhood resident John Holborne was among those who had water inside their homes.
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"The house is pretty wet right now," Holborne said. "We have an inch and a half of water in both bedrooms that hasn't receded yet. So we sent some people out to get a shop-vac and hopefully we'll get that all vacuumed out so we can be in good order by midnight tonight."
At least one resident decided to make the most of the situation, tweeting out a photo of himself paddleboarding on the flooded streets.
Fire department crews and other city workers were on the scene, putting down sandbags and pumping out the water.