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98734
From: pamela, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Pacific storms to pummel the West Coast
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Accuweather reports Pacific storms to pummel the West Coast, increase flood risk beyond Christmas Each storm will bring heavy rain, strong winds and travel-snarling mountain snow, further slowing motorists and air passengers during one of the busiest travel times of the year.. |
Responses:
[98738] [98740] [98741] [98752] [98759] [98742] [98743] [98746]
98738
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms to pummel the West Coast
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The Santa Cruz wharf collapsed Monday. Spent a lot of days there fishing with my dad, and later with my own children. Many memories. |
Responses:
[98740] [98741] [98752] [98759] [98742] [98743] [98746]
98740
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms to pummel the West Coast
| i spent a bit of time there too...nature always wins...they are worried the debris is heading south towards the brand new wharf/pier down at capitola... |
98741
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
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They now have Capitola wharf shut down as the Santa Cruz wharf appears to be making an assault on it. Crazy! When's the last time you heard of a wharf on wharf attack? ********* ‘Coming down to hit our wharf’: Santa Cruz pier threatens Calif. city By Silas Valentino, Travel Editor Dec 24, 2024 Massive swells along the Central Coast clobbered the Santa Cruz Wharf on Monday, and debris continues to pose a threat for another historic pier that’s located in a community down the coastline. Authorities in Capitola are warning people to avoid the beaches and shoreline near its beloved, yet storm battered, wharf because heavy wooden pilings swallowed by Monday’s waves are floating down the coast from Santa Cruz toward the coastal village. “Some of the pilings from Santa Cruz Wharf are coming down to hit our wharf,” Sarah Ryan, Capitola’s police chief, told SFGATE on Tuesday. Hazardous wreckage drifting toward Capitola caps off a tumultuous 24 hours in which parts of the village were evacuated and its pier was pummeled by dangerous swells. On Monday afternoon, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office closed Capitola Village due to flooding, and residents in the Venetian Court homes adjacent the beach were told to evacuate. Authorities lifted evacuation orders on Tuesday at 8 a.m., but the Capitola Wharf remains closed “for several days,” Ryan said, as Capitola Department of Public Works crews wait to clear the pilings after they wash ashore. “We have equipment staged so there will be no issues,” she continued. “We’re prepared to remove them when they come up.” Capitola continues to suffer from winter storms. The city was slammed by a bomb cyclone in January 2023 that punched a hole through the middle of its pier and flooded coastal neighborhoods. A restored Capitola Wharf reopened to the public on Sept. 25 after a community group raised $10 million for its restoration. While neighboring Santa Cruz bore the brunt of the big waves, Ryan said there was far less destruction in Capitola on Monday than in previous storms. She said the major impacts were damage to the outer portion of the restaurant Zelda’s and beach sand washing onto the streets around the Esplanade. In the week leading up to Monday’s storm, she said the city of Capitola was in constant communication with the city of Santa Cruz, California State Parks, the National Weather Service and other authorities to share supplies and triage a response when needed. |
98752
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
URL: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-santa-cruz-pier-collapse-seagulls-20004704.php
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Seagulls were a factor in collapse of California's iconic Santa Cruz wharf By Sam Mauhay-Moore, Trending News ReporterDec 28, 2024 People gather to watch a section of the Santa Cruz Wharf that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean amid heavy surf in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle After part of the iconic Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed into the ocean amid powerful waves on Monday, feathered culprits have been found to factor into the pier’s damage: seagulls. Specifically, environmental requirements meant to protect the birds during their nesting season delayed necessary repairs to the 110-year-old structure, the Mercury News first reported.  A section of the Santa Cruz Wharf that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean is seen at a nearby beach amid heavy surf in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle A 2021 repair and maintenance plan for the wharf published by the California Coastal Commission states that repairs and maintenance are needed on the structure due to its “age, location, and construction material.” The plan also states that since seabirds like western gulls and pigeon guillemots are known to nest in the wooden columns that support the wharf, major repairs should take place outside of the birds’ nesting period, which occurs from mid-February to the start of September. That means major repairs — including the replacement of the pier’s wooden columns — must take place during what are generally the stormiest months of the year. “Our work window is a very narrow six months over the winter time when we tend to have storms and big waves,” Tony Elliot, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Santa Cruz, told the Mercury News. “The wharf is a 110-year-old structure, and it requires a lot of work. … It takes more than six months out of the year to maintain it effectively.” Those maintenance needs directly conflict with protections for the seabirds, which are upheld by the Coastal Commission. A memorandum included in the commission’s wharf repair plan said the birds are “sensitive during their reproductive life history phases” and wharf repair processes “have the potential to significantly disturb nesting seabirds and affect nestling survivorship.” The memorandum continued, “There have been discussions recognizing that the unique nature of the wharf environment itself is unlike typical seabird nesting sites and therefore warrants special consideration, and the City has continually expressed concern that protections for the nesting seabirds impose conflicts with the needed wharf maintenance and repair.” Concerns from the city regarding the need for repairs to the wharf caused the Coastal Commission to modify its requirements in February, allowing some repairs to be made during nesting season. Per the changes, workers were required to stay 300 feet away from nesting birds and only work for a maximum of four hours a day. But the changes “didn’t change the dynamics” of the repair schedule, Elliot told the Mercury News. Monday’s damages to the pier caused the closure of multiple beaches in the area due to debris washing up on local shorelines. A high surf warning remains in effect in the region through Sunday morning. |
Responses:
[98759]
98759
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
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Yes, rather short sighted..now the birds don't have nesting sites at all (and neither to locals and tourists...and sea lions who also recline on the beams beneath the pier). |
Responses:
None
98742
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
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When's the last time you heard of a wharf on wharf attack? sounds like a star wars movie plot... |
98743
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
| Silly, that's Star Trek, not Star Wars! |
Responses:
[98746]
98746
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Pacific storms: Wharf on wharf action
| ah...failing memory...i was thinking of chewbacca...lol... |
Responses:
None
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