UPDATE Big Waves Cause Erosion Damage To Street Near Pacifica Pier
PACIFICA (CBS SF) -- The huge waves pounding Bay Area coastlines during recent weeks are taking their toll, with damage forcing crews to repair a street by the Pacifica Pier.
Big surf that started during the King Tides last month and continued since early December have eaten away at a Pacifica street. Beach Boulevard is closed at Santa Rosa Avenue as crews try to fix the problem.
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer said the larger-than-normal waves happen several times a year and that they are associated with the King Tide, a high tide event that coincides with a new moon.
"I talked to a couple of folks in engineering and it looks like there's some material loss under the promenade, which is the walkway that goes along there by the pier," Beckmeyer said. "They've got to assess how much damage there is and figure out the best way to address it."
Beckmeyer said engineers will have to wait until after the King Tide event before they can get a full assessment of the damage.
Mandey Lund, who works across the street at the Chit Chat Cafe, told KPIX 5 the ocean is actually coming up from underneath the roadway.
"The waves have been super high the past few days and today they've been crashing over the wall consistently too," she explained. "The street started giving way yesterday and the water started coming up from underneath. I've been seeing a lot of people running, even on the other side of the road, getting pelted; kids quickly getting soaked and running away."
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So far, there has been no word from city officials how long the repairs will take.
The latest waves were produced by a storm front moving toward the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday morning. The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory until mid-afternoon for coastal beaches.
"This swell will quickly build today generating large breaking waves of 15 to 20 feet, locally up to 25 feet at favored breakpoints," weather service forecasters said.
Last week, similar big wave conditions swept two people off beaches in Pacifica. A woman pulled from the waters by a pair of Good Samaritans. Meanwhile, a man was presumed dead after he was was swept away off the rocks near Beach Boulevard and Paloma Ave.
Among the areas most exposed to the northwest swells are San Francisco's Ocean Beach; San Mateo County's Montara State Beach; Monterey County's Marina State Beach and Monastery Beach in Carmel.
Meanwhile at Mavericks last week, the high surf conditions drew some of the world's most talented surfers as 30–to-40 foot waves were breaking just off Pillar Point.
