City braces for high tides

Deepa Bharath

City officials are preparing for a series of high tides expected to

generate waves close to 8 feet between now and the holiday weekend.

Starting Tuesday night, high tides in the late evening hours,

combined with heavy surf, could flood beachfront homes and

businesses, said Dave Neiderhaus, the city’s general services

manager.

“We have to watch the tides carefully and take the necessary

precautions,” he said.

Last month, a deadly combination of high tides and big surf

damaged vehicles in the Balboa Pier parking lot and flooded some of

the homes, Neiderhaus said.

“This time, the high swell has not been predicted as of now,” he

said. “But that can always change.”

City workers have been constructing berms since the weekend to

guard the pier, the Lifeguard headquarters on Newport Pier and pier

parking lots, Neiderhaus said.

Workers also will be on call through the week and the busy holiday

weekend and will be prepared with more sandbags in case the waves

wash out the existing berms, he said.

Behind the berms or dams, ditches have been dug to trap water

before it crashes out and causes damage, Neiderhaus said.

Residents who own older homes, whose foundations haven’t been

raised, must take precautions and sandbag in advance to prevent

flooding, he said.

It is not unusual to have high tides this time of the year, but it

is not common to have the waves rise so high, said Noel Isla,

meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego.

“This condition is expected to last until July 4,” he said. “It’ll

die down after that.”

Neiderhaus said the city will be bracing for another bout of high

tides in late July.

Newport Beach Lifeguards also are gearing up for what they expect

to be a hectic holiday, said Lifeguard Lt. Mike Halphide.

“We don’t believe the high tides will affect us much because they

happen later in the evening and the night,” he said.

All towers have been staffed with about 75 seasonal lifeguards and

six to seven full-timers, Halphide said.

“We had more than 100 rescues last weekend,” he said. “On a busy

day, we could have as many as 300 to 400 rescues.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol has not issued any

advisories for boaters yet, Assistant Harbor Master Lt. Erin Giudice

said.

“It looks like we’re going to be having smaller swells, about 2 to

3 feet,” she said. “It’s when you have high tides and high surf that

there’s a problem.”

Those who wish to report flooding may call Newport Beach Police

dispatch at (949) 644-3712.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].