Tropical Storm Hilary is clearing out, the region is drying out and sunny summer beach weather will soon returned — but be warned, it’s wise to stay clear of the ocean water for a while.
Trash and bacteria were washed by the storm’s rain down waterways, sidewalks and through storm drains to litter Southern California beaches and pollute ocean water near the shore.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an Ocean Water Quality Rain Advisory, as did the Orange County Health Care Agency, put in place following significant rainfall that may cause bacteria levels in ocean waters to increase.
“Elevated bacteria levels in ocean water may cause illness, especially in children and the elderly,” Los Angeles County officials warned.
“We did have a big flush and it is always advisable to stay out of the water for 48 to 72 hours, just because of the rise in bacterial levels,” said KC Fockler, Surfrider Foundation North OC chapter education program coordinator. “That’s what we’re concerned about now, besides all the trash.”
RELATED: Surfers chase down tropical swell from Hurricane Hilary
Some areas also suffered severe erosion from the storm’s battering of the shore, making steep dropoffs that can be a beach hazard. At Balboa Pier, the parking lot was flooded, limiting spots available for beachgoers.
Seal Beach’s River Jetty area sand was littered with trash by Monday morning and Doheny Beach’s San Juan Creek had been breached open, sending bacteria and bird poop flushing into the sea.
South Bay Boardrider member Derek Levy said a handful of volunteers set out to area beaches to help clean up debris early Monday morning after the storm cleared.
While winter time typically gets a seasonal “first flush,” it’s been months since a heavy downfall in the region, so trash stuck in gutters and tossed on streets travels with the storm water.
Fockler said that water quality tests typically take 24 hours to come back with results, but the safe thing to do is simply stay out of the sea in coming days.
But also, the pollution problem is a long-term issue that needs to be addressed, he said.
“It ends up in our food chain. The fish eat the plastic, we eat the fish and all of a sudden we are eating contaminated fish, that’s the problem,” he said.
Surfer Pam Conti, a teacher who for years did bacteria testing at Doheny State Beach with her students with the Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force, saw the berm breached at the San Juan Creek where birds hang out – and leave their poop to sit stagnant between storms, just waiting for water to push through the wall of sand that normally serves as a barrier to the sea.
“All that poop has been sitting there for a long time,” she said. “That’s where all the bacteria is coming from, the birds. When we tested out there, the water was off the charts.”
While people are advised to not surf for 72 hours following the storm, she typically will wait for five days at that spot, she said. “It looks like chocolate milk poop out there.”
State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall said the beaches were shut down in anticipation of Hilary for two days, but when the storm cleared earlier than expected they were all reopened early by noon Monday.
“Everything looks good,” he said. “It would be a travesty for us to not do our best to get them back open again, so we did.”
Campers had been evacuated Saturday in anticipation of the storm, with refunds given to those who lost their spots. State Parks has reopened the reservation system, he said.
A few spots at Doheny State Beach will remain closed due to flooding, as well the back trails at El Moro in Crystal Cove, he said.
California State Park Fish & Wildlife divers were able to remove fuel from a sunken boat off Bolsa Chica State Beach before the storm hit, but parts of the vessel are washing up on shore, he said. “Everyone knew that storm was going to demolish that thing. It is in pieces, everywhere.”
The multi-use bike and pedestrian trail at Bolsa Chica and Huntington State Beach also needed to be cleaned up for the beach crowds expected to return this week.
“It’s different from winter when rain and wind hit, you don’t have as many people using them,” Pearsall said about the need to work quickly. “Because it’s still August, they were working extra hard to get the sand off the multi-use trails. The next eight days are going to be in the 80s and there’s clear blue skies now. We know we have to rush. It’s a lot of work.”
With the strong swell and runoff, some beaches experienced severe erosion. At Aliso Beach in South Laguna, a large wall of sand suddenly drops off where the rushing water cut through and eroded large sections of sand.
But the sand hauled in the past few months and placed at Capistrano Beach and Doheny State Beach for a beach nourishment project held up well, said South Sector State Parks Superintendent Scott Kibbey.
“The planning ended up working out in our favor, some of the impacts from the storm didn’t take all of our sand away and we’re thrilled about that,” he said. “We knew that was a risk.”
Work to bring in the remaining 20,000 cubic yards of sand will resume Tuesday, he said.
