But residents and experts are questioning how much longer coastal living will be possible with rapid climate change.
“We love to live in these vulnerable places because they are beautiful,” Gallien said. “It comes down to what is a risk tolerance for a given homeowner or a given community, or a given municipality. Can engineers protect structures?”
This is one of the biggest questions keeping officials, residents and experts up at night. While the ongoing damage to California’s coastline is historic in nature, it is not necessarily unprecedented. Coastal erosion has caused flooding along the PCH during previous El Niños, including in the mid-1980s and late 1990s.
On the Long Beach Peninsula, more than a dozen homes crumbled into the ocean between Oct. 9 and 11 when the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel stirred offshore waves up to 17 feet tall. Eight structures encompassing 13 homes were deemed too unsafe to enter.
Curtis said he loved waking up to the soothing sound of surf every morning. His front door opened onto a popular boardwalk filled with locals and visitors taking in the stunning views.
When his apartment began to collapse, Curtis said he and his roommate rushed to shove whatever they could toward the back of the building and into the garage, which remained dry and felt more stable. He escaped by climbing through his bedroom window with his dog Lux and went to the other side of the street, which faces the bay and evaded damage this time.
A few days later, friends showed Curtis drone footage of his favorite couch floating in the ocean.
“It’s just a couch,” he said. “I feel really bad for the neighbors.”
Next door, a three-floor single-family home remained empty this week. Its owners, a family of three, left for a cruise before the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel destroyed their property. A giant crack snaked from the foundation up to the roof, threatening to split the house in two.
Curtis said he told them just to enjoy their vacation. There was nothing they could do.
The family could not be reached for comment.
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