Story perspectives

Long Beach Evacuates as Isaias Waves Smash Boardwalk

By Drooid · Oct 11, 2026, 11:40 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Simon Devastates Coast

Waves smashed Long Beach’s century-old wooden boardwalk, forcing immediate evacuations.
Jack Gordon, a Long Beach agent, called the damage a “knockout blow” to oceanfront homes.
Mayor Rex Richardson warned residents to avoid the peninsula all weekend while cleanup crews worked.
More than half a dozen coastal houses were declared structurally unsafe after the storm.
Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 system, struck Mexico’s Pacific coast with its eye offshore, battering Sierra Madre-coastal communities.

Summary

Hurricane Isaias Kills

Four people died after Hurricane Isaias struck the Florida Panhandle and Alabama.
The National Hurricane Center warned Rachel’s remnants could cause waves and flooding up to 1.5 feet above forecasts in Southern California.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons reported a woman died when a tree fell on her home.
North Carolina emergency agencies rescued two flood-stranded campers and a car-trapped woman in Burke County.

History

Historical Context

In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, breaching New Orleans’ levees and causing about $125 billion in damage, one of the two costliest U.S. storms (the other being 2017’s Hurricane Harvey). Since the 1980s the count of $1 billion Atlantic hurricanes has nearly doubled and the 2005 and 2020 seasons set records for major hurricanes, a trend linked by NOAA to expanding coastal populations and climate-driven intensification.

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Simon Devastates Coast

Waves smashed Long Beach’s century-old wooden boardwalk, forcing immediate evacuations.
Jack Gordon, a Long Beach agent, called the damage a “knockout blow” to oceanfront homes.
Mayor Rex Richardson warned residents to avoid the peninsula all weekend while cleanup crews worked.
More than half a dozen coastal houses were declared structurally unsafe after the storm.
Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 system, struck Mexico’s Pacific coast with its eye offshore, battering Sierra Madre-coastal communities.

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