Tropical Storm Rachel caused severe destruction in Long Beach, California, particularly along the Alamitos Peninsula, where powerful waves damaged multimillion-dollar beachfront homes and forced residents to evacuate. Eight buildings at 13 addresses were red-tagged as unsafe to enter, while another was yellow-tagged, allowing limited access for belongings retrieval. Residents like Natalie Cabrera and Robert Wells described unprecedented levels of damage, with some deciding to relocate due to the devastation.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Long Beach residents have been left devastated after powerful waves from Tropical Storm Rachel battered their multimillion-dollar beachfront homes, destroying properties, forcing families to evacuate and ripping apart a century-old boardwalk as yet another storm slammed Southern California.
asserted
storm → leave → California
The destruction unfolded along the city’s Alamitos Peninsula, where massive waves tore through wooden sections of the historic waterfront boardwalk, sending seawater rushing into homes and streets.
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seawater → unfold → homes
At least eight buildings representing 13 addresses were red-tagged as unsafe to enter, while another was yellow-tagged, allowing residents limited access to retrieve their belongings, according to Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.
uncertain
another → represent → Richardson
For some residents, the storm has meant watching their dream homes get swallowed by the ocean.
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homes → mean → ocean
Natalie Cabrera, 59, who has lived on the peninsula for just a year and a half, and rents a beachfront bungalow said she was devastated after the storm caused water damage to her home’s foundation.
“I don’t want to leave.
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I → live → foundation
This was my dream,” Cabrera said.
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Cabrera → say → ?
Cabrera described how the relentless waves battered her property, sending water underneath the building and damaging everything inside.
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waves → describe → everything
Because the ocean just kept hitting and hitting my home, and the water went underneath,” she said.
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she → keep → home
“Water didn’t come through my front door.
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Water → come → door
It came up from the ground.”
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It → come → ground
Cabrera said neighbors who had lived in the area for decades had never witnessed anything like it.
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who → say → it
“My other neighbor’s been here 30 years, and never, ever have they seen this.
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they → see → this
So I’m a newbie to the neighborhood.
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I → ’m → neighborhood
And I’m just devastated to have to leave,” she said.
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she → ’m → ?
Cabrera said she was going to move to Ontario, where her son and daughter-in-law have a home.
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son → say → home
“That’s where I grew up.
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I → ’ → ?
So I guess I’m just going to have to go back,” she said.
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she → guess → ?
Despite the devastation, Cabrera said she was grateful that her family and neighbors were safe and recalled how complete strangers rushed to help protect her property.
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strangers → say → property
“Everybody just came together, total strangers.
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Everybody → come → ?
He saw the devastation of the waves just rushing through my front door, and he came.
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he → see → door
“As fast as the water came, they’re shoveling the sand out.”
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they → come → sand
Robert Wells, 80, whose family has owned a summer home on the peninsula since 1962, said he had never witnessed such severe destruction.
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he → own → destruction
“It’s never happened like this before,” Wells said.
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Wells → happen → this
“Yesterday, and this morning, the water came right over here.
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water → come → ?
Wells blamed the city’s efforts to protect beachfront properties, arguing that a sand berm constructed to hold back the ocean actually made the damage worse.
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damage → blame → ocean
“There are more greater chances than not that if they hadn’t put that berm there, that the damage would be minor.
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damage → be → berm
And now the damage is major,” he said.
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he → say → ?
“If they had done nothing, it would have been better.
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it → do → nothing
They wouldn’t have all this damage.”
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They → have → damage
Wells also claimed that residents were preparing legal action against the city.
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residents → claim → city
“There is a class action lawsuit forming against the city of Long Beach,” he said.
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he → be → Beach
Meanwhile, John Fernando, who has lived on the peninsula for more than a decade, said he evacuated his property as the tide began rising.
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tide → live → property
“I left when the high tide started building up around 9am this morning,” Fernando said.
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Fernando → leave → am
He described how the powerful ocean waves had stripped away layers of sand, exposing structures that had previously been buried beneath the beach.
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that → describe → beach
“No one’s ever seen the rocks and the extra stakes in the sand until now when the ocean just ripped it out,” he said.
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he → see → it
Fernando said residents had been working around the clock to protect their homes and help neighbors whose properties had suffered more extensive damage.
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properties → say → damage
“We’re all in this together.
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We → ’re → this
We’ve all been protecting our own properties.
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We → protect → properties
And then when we could provide support, we’d help each other out at the same time.
uncertain
we → provide → time
This is definitely like 100% a group effort,” he said.
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he → say → ?
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
