On this date in 1982, Seal Beach and other south-facing Orange County beaches were pounded by heavy surf created by tropical storm Olivia. Breakers as high at twelve feet were recorded at Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
It was a busy Friday for Seal Beach lifeguards with six rescues, four of which required resuscitation. “It’s been a hectic out here all day. We’ve got strong riptides, undertows, and big surf, “Seal Beach lifeguard Steve Berry told the Los Angeles Times.
Anticipating warm muggy weather and more rough surf over the upcoming weekend, local lifeguard departments scrambled to schedule enough coverage for the weekend. Most city and state beaches had released their summer lifeguards a week earlier, leaving the beaches unexpectedly undermanned for Olivia.
“We’re trying to get as many as possible in here for the weekend,” said Berro.
Whatever troubles tropical storm Olivia brought to southland beaches that weekend were minor enough not to be mentioned later in the local papers, but the storm still left a path of destruction through inland California. Olivia damaged grape crops in Orange County and Northern California. Homes, cabins, and other properties were destroyed or wrecked, motorists were stranded in the Sierras, and floodwaters smashed through the Bishop Creek dam on Monday morning. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported.
Except for one fatally snapped surfboard in Seal Beach.
– Michael Dobkins
Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?
If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.
Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.
Leave a Reply