Quick Take
Ocean swells destroyed a seawall at Seacliff State Beach and wiped out 63 campsites and 26 hookup sites. Recent storms also destroyed half of the pier at Seacliff and left the remaining sections “severely damaged.” Chris Spohrer, district superintendent for the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks, warned that forecasts were calling for another large, western swell to hit the area Friday.
Seacliff State Beach remained closed to the public after “catastrophic damage” to its campground from ocean swells that destroyed a seawall and wiped out 63 campsites and 26 hookup sites.
“We’ve lost so much pavement and underground utilities there. More than half the seawall is gone in there,” said Chris Spohrer, district superintendent for the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks.
The day-use side of the Aptos park suffered significant damage to its seawall, as well as damage to the promenade, Spohrer said. On Tuesday, state parks workers were placing heavy rock on areas of the promenade where the seawall had been crushed by large waves.
Recent storms also destroyed half of the pier at Seacliff and left the remaining sections “severely damaged,” he said. He didn’t have an estimate for the cost to repair the damage, but said the agency expected at least a portion of the money to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Spohrer warned that forecasts were calling for another large, western swell to hit the area Friday during a period of reasonably high tide, a dangerous combination responsible for the original damage to the state beach last week.
State Park officials were asking the public to stay away from the park given the damage, temporary fencing and work by crews operating heavy machinery to stabilize and area.
“Being honest, we’re having a lot of people come down already and we’re trying to manage that, but we are asking for the public’s cooperation to stay away because of the dangers and because it impedes our ability to do the work down here,” Spohrer said.
He said park officials would assess whether some areas of the park may be able to reopen to public use on the weekend.
See more photos of damage to Seacliff State Beach
