Posted on 10/22/2022 6:24:42 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
Coastal erosion is threatening beachfront homes and a popular railroad route in San Clemente, California.
The Pacific Ocean’s powerful swells have reclaimed much of the Cyprus Shore community’s beachfront, which includes the passing of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner. The rail line offers uninterrupted picturesque views of the Southern California coastline to more than 8 million passengers each year, AFP reported. A portion of the tracks was closed for emergency repairs on Sept. 30, and at least two homes have been deemed uninhabitable due to the encroaching sea water.
San Clemente resident Steve Lang told AFP that his neighbors feel they can't call themselves a “beach" enclave anymore. “We don’t have a beach, we’re no longer a beach community. It’s horrific. It’s like losing your best friend.”
The area has been stabilized for now. Tons of rock were dropped along the tracks to create a barrier and prevent water from taking over more of the land and the decks of the homes. However, authorities are aware there needs to be a long-term solution.
“While I understand the dropping of the riprap in the short term, it’s causing more and more sand erosion, and that’s making it harder and harder in the future to build back our beaches,” Chris Duncan, San Clemente mayor pro tem, told AFP.
Lang said waves as high as 6 feet caused a landslide in September 2021, condemning two homes and causing the railroad to close for preventative measures. But the area is still in danger a year later with one of the homes on the brink of collapse.
...work on the railroad tracks through San Clemente will last several months and cost up to $12 million.
Duncan said: "The entire California coast is threatened by climate change and threatened by coastal erosion."
(Excerpt) Read more at accuweather.com ...
The Coastal Commission likes erosion and rarely allows prevention measures. Ain’t natural.
I used to run along the tracks. The trains were infrequent so not a problem. Great views of the Pacific. I always wondered how long the tracks would last - given the weight of the trains, erosion by the sea, and the kind of substrate they were on.
Cliffs got to cleft.
Hmmm, AccuWeather. PANIC!
Can’t believe people who own beachfront property in San Clemente need gov’t help to repair it.
Does that make any sense at all?
The heavily taxpayer subsidized Pacific Surfliner is a fun adventure, one time, but most people will not use it twice. Rail systems do not fail gracefully, which means hours of waiting. Taxpayers would be better off subsidizing Uber.
I was in San Diego a couple weeks ago on business and took a ride over to Oceanside, where I used to live when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. The Oceanside station was closed for some reason. But I went to the bridge by the marina where Oceanside connects to Pendleton. I used to walk that railroad bridge all the time from my barracks in Area 21 to Oceanside Beach. I remember having to run a couple of times to escape the trains that were coming up behind me. But they built a nice road since then and also a bike trail.
My dad used to warn me, “Son, don’t be house rich and cash poor.” That’s probably the case with these folks, too.
My third job when I moved to California in 1973 was at the Encina Power Plant in Carlsbad. I tell you, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven being able to live a couple months in a mom & pop motel on the PCH north of the plant. A year later, I started up a new boiler system at Camp Pendleton Hospital. I really enjoyed those San Diego jobs, going down to Leucadia and other beach towns. The last time I was down that way I was absolutely shocked to see how LA and SD had grown together into a giant megalopolis. There used to be countryside between the two fifty years ago. Not any more.
I was stationed there in the early 1980s and it has changed quite a bit since then. But Oceanside Beach with the long boardwalk is still pretty much the same. Also, Old Town in San Diego is still some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. Not in the actual park (which is a tourist trap) but in the neighborhoods just outside.
When I was stationed there in the 1982-1984 period, most of the coastline was totally undeveloped. We used some of it to practice amphibious landings.
There was a nice beach in the southern part of it (Del Mar), just adjacent to Oceanside that was only accessible to Marines and their families.
Exactly. The Army Corp had to step in so something could be done.
This appears to be what happens when you build on a cliff right next to the ocean.
Imagine what it would be like without Camp Pendleton to prevent merging. Moved away from the area in 1990.
The massive buildup of the area betweein the 405 and 15 really shocks me from satellite pictures.
I eventually settled on the San Francisco Peninsula. Every few years, some big storms roar off the Pacific and more houses in San Mateo County fall into the ocean. People lose not only their house, but their land, too. Imagine that your entire land is gone, just ceases to exist!
But people made that choice knowing that the ocean and erosion are unforgiving.
We lived by LAX when I was a little boy around 1955. CA had 10 million people then. We were only there a couple years and I grew up in upstate, NY. When I moved to CA after graduating from college in 1973, it had about 20 million people.
Today it has 40 million people. The quality of life really deteriorated with each doubling of the population.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.