In late December, portions of the boardwalk in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach were seen underwater, flooded, with sand and seaweed left over for days after high surf pummeled the San Diego County coast.
“It was crazy. I haven’t seen the sea level that high in over a year,” Margo Tannewitz, who lives in San Diego and walks on the boardwalk weekly, said.
Waves anywhere from 10 to 15 ft. relentlessly devoured the beaches, spilled onto walkways and, in some cases, flowed down streets and into front yards.
“If you look in the alleys, it like deposited a ton of sand between the houses,” Tannewitz added.
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“It was pretty intense. If you’re standing right there, you might get washed away,” Monroe Herrington, who lives near the beaches, said. “Last year was the first time we’ve seen this happen in a long time where waves washed up.”
Now, nearly one week after the worst of the waves, the City of San Diego told NBC 7 they are done with cleanup work on the boardwalk from Mission Beach to the Pacific Beach Lifeguard Tower.
According to a post on their social media platforms, the effort was expected to take several days and the sand that was cleaned up will be “transported to Fiesta Island for treatment before being reused.” NBC 7 tried to clarify with the city on what kind of treatment the sand will receive but did not get an answer.
“You know in the mountains you might have to shovel some snow,” Herrington said. “We have to shovel the sand.”
The boardwalk was seen Sunday mostly clear of any significant patches of sand, but there were certain areas and alleys that still had residual, along with large puddles and some debris in the walkway.
“More puddles, more sand to navigate around, like the bikers kind of have to swerve a little bit,” Tannewitz said.
In January 2023, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach saw similar waves and flooding. Some people say it might now be part of living in the area.
“It’s becoming more and more common, so I mean we’re getting used to it,” Bryn Mathews said.
“It happens once a year, so we can prepare for it, put sandbags up,” Herrington added.
