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Tag: Huge waves

  • Gaviota Pier: Damaging Waves Rip into Popular Fishing Dock

    A historic pier at Gaviota State Beach in Santa Barbara, Calif., collapsed Saturday morning due to damaging waves.

    Gaviota Beach is popular for camping, hiking, and surfing. However, one feature that attracts visiting tourists and local residents is the windy Gaviota Pier.

    Spanish soldiers who decided to call it “La Gaviota,” which means seagull, found the pier in 1769.

    The 529-foot pier is typically opened 24 hours a day and is well-liked by fishermen, but now a chunk of it is gone.

    Eyewitness Jack Crouch said the waves weren’t as big when he and his daughter first arrived, but 10 minutes later they found themselves running to save themselves as the pier started to collapse.

    “We started noticing the pier was shaking and swaying back and forth, so we left the pier,” he said. “I stayed for one more big set of waves and then we ran. It was kind of scary.”

    According to the California Best Beaches website, “a key feature on the pier is the boat hoist.” People can use it to launch recreational boats, but must obtain training, an identification card, and pass inspection before using the hoist.

    Crouch verified to local reporters how the area where fishing usually takes place collapsed “about 200 feet… from the hoist to the end.”

    State Parks Sector Superintendent Eric Hjelstrom said that there were no boats docked at the time of the collapse, but he’s afraid that the pier will soon yield to further damages.

    The Santa Maria Times gave an update Monday on the storm’s status. Rainfall was reportedly less than 3 inches in most surrounding areas including Santa Ynez and San Luis Obispo. Meteorologists predict clear skies for the rest of the week.

    Although the pier at Gaviota Beach was injured pretty severely, the newspaper reported that additional piers were also hit hard by vicious waves:

    “Railings and a pipe on Avila Pier also were broken loose, forcing the closure of that pier. The Pismo Pier was also closed Saturday due to high winds…[and] three boats also broke loose along the south coast, with one smashed into the Goleta Pier.”

    The Gaviota Pier and beach will be closed until further notice.

    Image via YouTube

  • Monster Waves Caused By U.S. Storm, Flooding The UK

    The storm that hit the U.S. last week has made its way across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the U.K., Ireland and Scotland.

    Dozens of flood warnings are in place across the UK as fresh storms are expected to roll in overnight, Monday night. A Severe Flood Warning is in effect, and the BBC says that this warning means “a danger to life”.

    Waves up to 27 feet high are slamming into Britain’s southwestern coast, and just like those gale winds Hercules brought in the U.S., its brought lashing winds and heavy rain onto the coastal residents.

    The Environment Agency has urged residents in Oxfordshire and Dorset to prepare for more floods. In Wales, seafront homes, businesses and student residence halls were evacuated as high tides hit the Welsh coast.

    The Met Office, Britain’s weather forecasting body, warned of wind gusts up to 70 mph and exceptionally large waves along the coasts of Wales, southwest England and Northern Ireland. Storms have caused flooding not just in Britain but in Northern Ireland as well, and in both countries – travel, roads and trains have been severely affected due to flooding.

    At least seven people have died in this extreme stormy weather that has battered Britain since December, including a man killed when his mobility scooter fell into a river in Oxford, southern England.

    The 47-year-old was pulled out of Osney Lock in Oxford on Saturday evening but he died at the scene. Police said it was a “tragic incident” that highlighted the dangers of using flooded pathways.

    Flooding is also expected in South East England, including the Severn, and the alerts remain “very high”.

    “Environment Agency teams remain out on the ground across the country and will continue to work around the clock to protect communities at risk,” said the agency’s flood risk manager Jonathan Day.

    More than 90 flood warnings – which means flooding is expected and immediate action is required – are in place in England and Wales.

    The Met Office said a large, deep depression in the Atlantic had been “whipping waves up” out at sea on Sunday and these would come into western and southern coastal areas of the UK as a large swell on Monday.

    “This, combined with waves driven by the winds in UK waters on Monday, will generate wave heights of 7-10m over parts of western Scotland, Wales and south-west England, and 3-7m in much of the English Channel and Irish Sea,” it added.

    Image via YouTube