After the final week of 2023, San Diego County beaches look a little different in 2024. High waves and storm damage are visible from Imperial Beach to Del Mar.
In Pacific Beach, Crystal Pier remained closed for most of the day Monday, while in La Jolla, a catwalk atop the sea wall protecting a wading pool was cut off after some sections of the metal safety fence disappeared into the surf. was closed. Meanwhile, people visiting Del Mar sat in the sand on the beach. The rest was washed away last week. On the south side of the Ocean Beach Pier, pilings and some railings were lost to the sea.
“I was like, ‘Wow!'” exclaimed Maurice Groves at Imperial Beach.
Groves couldn’t wait for the sun to return. He wanted to be at the beach on New Year’s Day.
“It’s the sound,” Groves said. “You can really feel the power and majesty of the beach.”
Its majesty also caused confusion. “Flooded” signs still remain where the ocean washed hundreds of cubic feet of sand onto the road.
“It was a little tricky. Puddles occur in places they don’t normally occur,” Groves said.
The waves were so strong at one point that they threw 8-foot logs onto the rocks that protect the houses from the sea.
“I have a lot of respect for the power of the ocean,” Groves said with a smile.
Further north, at Mission Beach, Bre Golden was sitting on a mound of sand.
“After a week of clouds and big waves, the sun came out today,” Golden said.
“You can’t contain it,” Golden lamented. It’s wild power. ”
“There seems to be a lot less walkable area where we don’t touch the ocean,” Groves said.
“I think it will take some time for the situation to level out,” Golden added.
