Lifeguards scramble to save their towers

Jeff Benson

Forecasters predicted a soggy end to 2004 in the Southland, and

that’s exactly what they’re getting, but high winds did the most

damage Tuesday in Newport Beach.

Lifeguards scrambled Tuesday morning to relocate a dozen lifeguard

towers threatened by rising surf and wind gusts as high as 56 mph.

About 50 feet of sand was carried away in a swift current that

moved at speeds up to 20 mph, Newport Beach Lifeguard Lt. Brian

O’Rourke said.

“It got to the point that water from the current was moving so

fast that it undermined the sand around it,” he said.

“It’s hard to say exactly how much sand was removed from the area,

but it was pretty significant.”

Each of the lifeguard towers was spared, but an emergency ramp

that O’Rourke valued at close to $20,000 was lost.

The ramp was used to help medical aid victims in the water under

the Newport Pier, he said. No one was hurt. A flood warning in Orange

County will be in effect until 4 p.m. today, according to the

National Weather Service. A high-wind advisory will last until this

afternoon.

The southeastern wind moved along at 40 mph through 9 a.m.

Tuesday, but O’Rourke said that other than the loss of beach sand, it

didn’t cause much other damage.

The sand most likely moved toward West Newport and Huntington

Beach, he said.

“Usually, when we get a west swell, we get some of [the sand]

back,” O’Rourke said. “The beach regenerates itself for the most

part. That’s why there are jetties in West Newport, to prevent losing

some of that sand.”

The light holiday traffic may have been a detriment to Orange

County’s freeways, California Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Johnson

said, because drivers took unnecessary risks on slippery pavement.

The California Highway Patrol responded to nearly 200 accidents

from midnight to noon Tuesday on local highways, Johnson said.

“At this time of year, speeds tend to be higher,” Johnson said.

“People hit those hydroplane areas and speed out of control.”

Several minor accidents were reported near the end of the Costa

Mesa Freeway, he said.

Only minor property damage was reported throughout Newport Beach

as a result of the rain. An uprooted tree near Mariners Elementary

School forced the closure of Irvine Avenue for nearly 20 minutes, and

two large trees fell on a house on Spyglass Hill, according to a news

release by the General Services Department. No one was hurt.

Nearly 40 false burglar alarms were set off by the wind, patrol

Sgt. Rob Morton said.

“Overnight we had a bunch of alarms go off, but that’s typical of

the wind that goes through,” he said. “It was rather uneventful,

really, for a storm moving through. There’s usually flooding on

Balboa Peninsula, but we haven’t even had that.”

City workers Tuesday morning closed Back Bay Drive to all

pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The street will remain closed until

it’s cleared of mud and debris and until the storm systems have

passed, the release said.

Workers also built berms along ocean-front beaches to keep

rainwater away from private property and placed flood barricades on

Mariners Mile and Balboa Boulevard.

More rain is projected for Orange County’s coastal areas Thursday

night and Friday, with a moderate chance of showers today, Thursday

and over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.