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Two people were rescued after a California pier under construction partially collapsed and tumbled into the ocean on Monday as heavy waves from a massive storm expected to bring hurricane-force winds to the state’s coast hit the state’s central coast. The third person swam back to safety. Pacific Northwest, authorities announced.
Residents were warned to stay away from low-lying areas near beaches around Santa Cruz Pier, about 110 miles south of San Francisco, as the storm rapidly strengthened.
The storm’s high waves and flooding prompted the city of Capitola, located about six miles east of the pier along Monterey Bay, to order guests at waterfront hotels to evacuate if their rooms faced the ocean. Residents of the city’s business district were told to shelter in place or leave the area immediately.
Lifeguards rescued two people from the water after part of a pier collapsed in Santa Cruz, officials said. Mayor Fred Keeley said no one was seriously injured.
The mayor said parts of the pier were damaged over time. The building was in the middle of a $4 million renovation after last winter’s devastating storm.
“It’s a disaster for the people at the end of the pier,” said David Johnston, owner of Venture Quest Kayaking, who was granted access to the pier to check on the business.
Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Director Tony Elliott estimated that about 150 feet (45 meters) of the end of the pier fell into the water around 12:45 p.m., and the pier was immediately evacuated. , will remain closed indefinitely.
Some of the pier’s pilings are still underwater and remain a “significant danger” to boats, the mayor said. Each pile weighs several hundred pounds and is pushed by powerful waves.
“You are risking your life and the lives of those trying to save you by going into or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service Bay Area office said on social Platform X. .
Gov. Gavin Newsom has been briefed and the state Office of Emergency Services is coordinating with local authorities, his office said.
Forecasters warned that the storm’s swells would continue to increase during the day.
“We anticipate that the situation facing us will be even more serious than what happened this morning,” the mayor said.
Ocean swells along California’s central coast could reach 60 feet (18 meters) as the Pacific storm strengthens into Monday, the weather service said.
“The rapidly developing storm will bring hurricane-force winds to areas well offshore in the Pacific Northwest tonight,” the National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center said in an X.
The broken end of the pier was closed for renovations. That section, which included public toilets and the closed Dolphin Restaurant, drifted about half a mile along the coast and ended up at the bottom of the San Lorenzo River.
Officials said the people who fell into the water were two engineers who were inspecting the edge of the pier and a project manager. There were no civilians in the area.
Building inspectors were currently inspecting the remaining structural integrity of the Santa Cruz Pier.
Monday’s collapse came about a year after the Seacliff State Beach pier just down the coast was irreparably destroyed by a severe winter storm.
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