Storm Rachel batters Southern California – Isaias kills at least four
Unusually large waves damaged homes in Long Beach, where the mayor called the impacts "unprecedented". In the US Southeast, hundreds of thousands are still without power.
Archive image · Photo: Sergei Gussev / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
The remnants of Storm Rachel brought unusually large waves to Southern California over the weekend. According to the National Hurricane Center, water levels ran as much as 1.5 feet (about 45 centimetres) above predictions. In Long Beach, waves battered a century-old wooden boardwalk and forced homeowners to evacuate. More than half a dozen coastal homes were declared structurally unsafe. Mayor Rex Richardson said: "It is not normal that we see this type of activity." He said the impacts "are unprecedented for our community".
Rachel had earlier made landfall south of Ensenada in Mexico's Baja California state. Local authorities reported one death and seven people missing after a river burst its banks, Telemundo reported; a family was swept away and two children were rescued. Overnight Rachel lost its tropical characteristics and later dissipated over Las Vegas, according to AP. Long Beach urged residents to avoid the peninsula through the weekend.
In the US Southeast, the death toll from Hurricane Isaias rose to at least four: two in Escambia County, Florida, and two in Alabama. On Sunday afternoon, about 356,000 customers in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were still without power, according to AP. In North Carolina, officials reported landslides and flooding; rescuers pulled two people and their dog from floodwaters.