Furious homeowners living on a stunning stretch of California coastline have slammed their mayor as their properties are being swallowed into the sea by monster waves.
asserted
properties → live → waves
Ocean Boulevard on the Long Beach peninsula, south of Los Angeles, used to be a beloved strip famed for million dollar homes along a picture-perfect beachfront.
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Boulevard → use → beachfront
But recent extreme weather such as tropical storm Rachel has residents turning against the city's lawmakers, frustrated with their handling of the emergency.
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residents → have → emergency
'The mayor of Long Beach doesn't give a damn about this community,' Long Beach home owner Dennis Poulsen, 84, told the Daily Mail about Democrat Rex Richardson, who has been in office for four years after working in the city council.
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who → give → council
'His natural constituency is not here and he doesn't really care,' Poulsen added.
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Poulsen → care → ?
Poulsen built his Ocean Boulevard house right by the beach 21 years ago.
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Poulsen → build → beach
It is estimated to be worth around $5 million, according to online real estate marketplace Realtor.com.
uncertain
It → estimate → Realtor.com
While Poulsen had 'just a little bit of water' entering his house last week and is now protected by sandbags, his neighbors' homes deal with 'significant damage,' he said.
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he → enter → damage
Storm Rachel battered waterfront property last week as blistering winds and giant waves tore away nearly 30 feet of a century-old boardwalk and put homes at risk of crumbling into the waters.
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winds → batter → waters
California has been hit with the third hurricane in six weeks, leading several beachfront houses in the Golden State to crumble into the ocean
The most recent tropical storm Rachel ripped nearly 30 feet of a century-old boardwalk
Several homeowners had their houses marked with yellow and red tags.
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houses → hit → tags
Yellow tags mean that owners are allowed to briefly enter their homes and get their belongings, while red tags mark houses as entirely unsafe to enter
Chilling drone footage showed the swells crashing against a Long Beach home and even reaching its second-floor windows as parts of the building and boardwalk floated away.
Water flooded side streets and patios, pouring into several homes and damaging property.
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Water → mean → property
Also affected by the storm is Paris Porter, a hopeful 2028 Team USA Olympian.
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Porter → affect → storm
In a devastating social media post, she revealed that her home collapsed into the ocean.
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home → reveal → ocean
Porter and her husband lived in an ocean front one bedroom apartment 'that had everything we could have ever wanted,' she wrote.
uncertain
she → live → everything
'Seeing the destruction, not only to our house but to everyone around us, breaks our hearts,' she added, writing that she found temporary housing for the next eight months.
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she → see → months
Mayor Richardson said last weekend that 'it is not normal that we see this type of activity.'
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we → say → activity
'We saw Hurricane Marie over Labor Day, which was followed soon by Hurricane Polo, and now Rachel is bringing with it more high tides, more surf, erosion that continues to cause damage to properties and damage along our coastline.'
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that → see → coastline
Several homes were flagged with yellow and red tags.
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homes → flag → tags
Yellow tags allow owners to grab their belongings but not stay in the property.
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owners → allow → property
Red ones mean the home is not safe to enter.
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home → mean → ?
Poulsen's neighbors were marked with both.
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neighbors → mark → both
Mayor Richardson proclaimed a 'local emergency' to manage the extreme weather from October 8 to October 13.
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Richardson → proclaim → October
Long Beach home owner Dennis Poulsen, 84, accused Democratic mayor Rex Richardson of not giving 'a damn about this community'
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Poulsen → accuse → community
Richardson proclaimed a 'local emergency' from October 8 to October 13 and said 'it is not normal that we see this type of activity'
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we → proclaim → activity
The recent storm Rachel saw about 30 feet of a century-old boardwalk being destroyed
Poulsen accused lawmakers of doing 'too little too late' and claimed that a local study group had warned city officials about the threats posed by rising sea levels and extreme weather for around 11 years
Locals also took to Facebook to voice their upset about the city's management of the situation.
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Locals → see → situation
One user asked: 'Why didn't the city start doing something about this a couple decades ago when beach erosion had already started?'
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erosion → ask → this
'Our teams have distributed thousands of sandbags, built sand berms, cleared drains and reinforced damaged coastal protections,' Richardson wrote on Instagram.
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Richardson → distribute → Instagram
'Our city teams and neighbors have worked together every step of the way.'
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teams → work → way
However, locals have questioned the city's response efforts like sandbag distribution sites which limited each resident to a maximum of 10 bags, with one commenting: 'Lol yeah those cup cake bags will stop the ocean.'
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bags → question → ocean
Others took to Facebook asking: 'Why didn't the city start doing something about this a couple decades ago when beach erosion had already started?'
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erosion → take → this
Another one commented: 'Did they really think Mayor Rex was going to handle this well?'
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Rex → comment → this
Poulsen accused the city of 'wringing their hands and doing half measures.
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Poulsen → accuse → measures
The century-old bulkhead separating houses and beach was seen destroyed by the latest storm.
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bulkhead → separate → storm
Poulsen described the wood's condition as 'badly eroded and decrepit.
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Poulsen → describe → condition
'That's what's beginning to happen because of years of neglect and inaction on the part of the city,' Poulsen claimed, adding that the city has known about the condition for a long time.
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city → begin → time
One of the city's measures to deal with the monster waves were sandbag distribution sites but each resident was only allowed to take a maximum of 10 bags
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resident → deal → bags
According to Poulsen, city officials have known about the threats posed to beachfront houses for a long time but 'unless you've got people on the ramparts that shout louder than the person next to them, things don't get done'
uncertain
things → accord → them
Long Beach is now preparing for the winter storm season and the 'threatened impacts of the 2026-27 El Nino'
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Beach → prepare → Nino
To protect the community in the future, the city also announced a dredging project to expand the beachfront by around 200 feet
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city → protect → feet
The 84-year-old was furious when city councilwoman Kristina Duggan described the devastation caused by storm Rachel as a 'wake-up call' during a meeting.
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Duggan → describe → meeting
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
