Residents and business owners near King Harbor in Redondo Beach said unusually high tides flooded sidewalks and affected waterfront businesses.
Residents and business owners near King Harbor in Redondo Beach said unusually high tides flooded sidewalks and affected waterfront businesses, with some saying they had never seen such conditions before.
Water from the bay poured onto sidewalks along the harbor during high tide, causing concern among residents and business owners in the area.
“I’ve been at the marina for 15 years and I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m 72 years old, so I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life,” Chris Martz said.
Natasha Nelson, whose boat is docked at King Harbour, said the water level was significantly higher than normal.
“Just at this time of day I could see 3 feet below the sidewalk line, so there’s normally a lot of rocks here and I can see the ones with crabs crawling on them, but as you can see, we’re already past the sidewalk,” Nelson said.
At BALEENkitchen, managers and workers used buckets to drain water from the restaurant and temporarily closed the business until 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, it was a different type of dog park for puppies.
“Well it’s fun because dogs can never get in the water, they would have to drop down and can’t get out, so it’s fun, they can get in and out on their own,” Sam said.
According to NOAA, this El Niño season is expected to strengthen during the winter months. Water temperatures now exceed those of the 2015 and 1997-98 El Niño years and are the warmest temperatures on record.
Martz said current conditions differ from previous El Niño seasons.
“Other El Niño years haven’t necessarily been accompanied by very high tides. This is the first time we’ve had waves coming from the equator and so this adds a foot to the highest tides,” he said.
Despite the flooding, residents said they were preparing for what might happen in the coming months.
“We’re all monitoring the tide and the storms really well, so I think this winter we’re all going to, you know, check our apps, make sure we’re in a safe place and not go out at the wrong time,” Nelson said.
Higher tides and major waves are expected in November and December. Businesses along the waterfront, including BALEENkitchen, said this is all happening during the busiest season: Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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