For many locals, Santa Cruz’s beautiful coast feels more desolate than ever.
In recent years, waves from strong winter storms and two tsunamis have caused millions of dollars in damage to pier and marina areas, including this week’s dangerous wave surge that destroyed nearly 150 feet of the pier. This includes being swept out to sea.
On Monday, a large section of the 100-year-old pier detached from the rest of the structure amid raging swells, sending three people, all survivors, tumbling into the sea and a toilet floating miles south, leaving shocked onlookers. Ta.
“The pier has been around for over 100 years, but this is the first time in my memory that something like this has happened,” said the company, which has a flagship store not far from where part of the pier was destroyed. said Gino Marini, co-owner of Marini’s Candies. off. His family’s business has been on the wharf for 40 years, and while he remembers storms that caused significant damage, including cracking pilings and crashing boats, he has never experienced a collapse this large. There was none.
This recent attack from the ocean is exacerbated by rising sea levels and a warming climate that pumps more energy into the waves, raising concerns about how common these dangerously strong and frequent waves will become in Santa Cruz. This is worrying authorities and some local residents.
“Mother Nature is holding the cards,” Santa Cruz City Assistant Manager Michelle Templeton said at a press conference this week. “We know that these westerly swells continue to intensify and we will continue to assess the continued damage and determine our next course of action.”
Dangerous waves that hit Monterey Bay earlier this week left at least one person dead after becoming trapped under debris and another person missing at sea, officials said. Both incidents occurred just south of Santa Cruz.
The city’s piers remain closed as officials assess their stability and prepare for a second approaching system that is expected to bring high waves, with some areas of Northern California seeing waves as low as 30. reach ft. But meteorologists say the next storm won’t bring the strong swells that overwhelmed docks on Monday.
However, this is only the most recent example of severe damage recorded at the Port of Santa Cruz.
Almost a year ago to today, another winter storm pounded the Santa Cruz pier, causing enough damage that it was temporarily closed to the public. City officials eventually began extensive repairs, including the demolition of a restaurant at the end of the pier that was part of the area washed away this week. Repairs were scheduled to be completed in March.
A year ago, a tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption in Tonga wreaked havoc on the Port of Santa Cruz, causing an estimated $6 million in damage. The tsunami surge coincided with high tide, inundating parts of Santa Cruz that had never been flooded before, flooding parking lots and power substations.
Still, the tsunami was not as bad as the one that hit California in 2011, churning through Santa Cruz Harbor and pushing and smashing boats, sinking at least 14 ships and damaging many others. Ta. State officials reported that the event caused more than $100 million in damage along the coast, noting that nearly all piers at the ports of Santa Cruz and Crescent City were damaged or destroyed.
But despite its troubled history with coastal disasters, Santa Cruz has a favorable geographic location, facing south into Monterey Bay, meteorologists say. This often protects coastal cities from the worst waves that hit Northern California.
“The orientation of the Santa Cruz Pier often gives it a little more protection from northwest swells,” said Braden Murdock, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Monterey. “Typically, when the northwest swell starts to build up, it becomes very difficult for the waves to wrap around the curves of Santa Cruz.”
And the strongest waves that hit the Golden State are usually from the northwest.
But if the storm originates further south than typical winter storms, as it did Monday, Santa Cruz becomes more vulnerable to strong waves and may become less accustomed to their intensity, Murdock said. said.
“When the storm really gained energy, its position was almost due west from us,” Murdock said. Strong waves from that direction are less common, but they can develop at this time of year, and it could hit Santa Cruz more directly, he said.
Murdoch said Santa Cruz would be most vulnerable if strong waves like those that occurred during the Tonga tsunami came from the south, but noted that such strong waves were least likely to come from that location. did.
“When you have a really strong southwest swell, it’s quite an event,” Murdock said. “But when that happens, it can cause significant damage.”
But officials say many unknowns primarily lie in predicting the strength of the storm, where it will occur and how much danger cities like Santa Cruz will be in.
“It really just depends on each system across the Pacific,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey. “Each storm is a little different.”
Despite Santa Cruz’s history and this week’s events, candy retailer Marini said the remnants of the pier (a large portion of the ) stated that he had full confidence in him.
“We’ve been everywhere and seen a lot,” said Marini, 48. “In the 41 years we’ve been in business, I think we’ve been closed for 10 days for something like this. …The waves are getting bigger.”
He blames ongoing construction at the end of the pier for weakening it at the worst possible time.
“If we had done it sooner, we might not have been in this situation,” Marini said. “That one section wasn’t really hardened.”
His main worry now is that his business, as well as other small shops and restaurants on the pier, will be forced to close during what is usually one of the busiest times of the year.
“Usually this is the time when we thrive,” Marini said. He said he received an update from authorities on Thursday about continued testing, but there was no clear update on reopening.
“I’m a little worried that it’s going to take longer than we would like,” he said. “The bills are still coming in.”
He said this is a concern not only for himself, but also for his nearly 25 employees who are no longer able to schedule shifts. So for now, he’s just hoping for a quick and safe reopening at the pier.
“I hope people are not afraid to come back here,” he said. “We rely on tourists and we rely on locals.”
Times staff writers Nathan Solis, Clara Harter and Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.
