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LONG BEACH, Calif. () — As Marie churned offshore on Sunday, powerful surf and high tides slammed the Southern California coast, bringing massive, destructive waves and coastal flooding. Residents in some areas raced to keep floodwater out of their homes.
Marie was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical cyclone on Sunday night. Despite the system staying well offshore, SoCal’s coastal communities felt the brunt of its force.
Massive waves flooded streets in Long Beach on Sunday, keeping cleanup crews busy.
The large waves pounded the shoreline as they washed over the berms, flooding nearby streets.
Officials say the surf remains dangerous and will likely stay that way for the next few days. Beachgoers are urged to stay away from the water for the remainder of Labor Day weekend.
The high surf in Long Beach came fast on Sunday and started flooding very heavily.
Eyewitness News caught up with neighbors in the area of 67th Place and Ocean Boulevard, where a pump was being used to move standing water to the sewer. Sand clogged the storm drains, causing the area to quickly flood.
“We have had, all day, it’s been pretty intense. From 2 p.m. on, the swells got really large, and then the drains were either blocked or not working,” said neighbor Jen, who has lived on the peninsula for 13 years. “And then it overflows into our block and into a few of the other blocks and into our houses.”
She said the flooding is not uncommon, though Sunday’s round of rain was worse than expected.
An 7 crew at the scene watched as neighbors in the area opened their garages to reveal several inches of water. They quickly began work to try to sweep the water out.
Some neighbors set up sandbags outside of their garages ahead of the storm.
As the water began to drain out, sand and sludge were left behind.
Video shows the wood on the boardwalk splintered from the force of the massive waves. The eight-foot berms built along the shore were completely washed away.
“There’s power shortages going on, so some people are getting shocked in there, so we’re having to turn off all the power. There’s tiles being ripped off the floor, furniture being moved, obviously there’s electronics being damaged,” said Long Beach resident Cole Hill.
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“Everything that it’s throwing up at you with every wave is something that somebody is getting hit with, or a board that is coming off the boardwalk that is going up 10 feet in the air,” Ashley Brown said.
Long Beach crews said they were going to work to rebuild the berms that were compromised on Monday morning.
“We have ordered some additional resources, some additional resources to come and get this water out of here, some portable pumps to come do that,” said Long Beach Fire Department Asst. Chief Jake Heflin.
RELATED: Tree collapses on top of vehicles in Los Feliz amid Southern California showers
Video from the scene shows the large tree on top of two vehicles in the street. The hood and windshield of one vehicle were completely smashed.
Video from Point Mugu in Malibu shows Pacific Coast Highway drivers being splashed by massive waves that crashed up over the break and onto the roadway.
Further south, some beaches in Malibu were closed entirely due to lightning threats and flooding.
AIR7 flew over Seal Beach, where video showed cleanup crews working on Sunday night. Water created a channel between the ocean berms and the homes along the shore after the waves breached the barriers.
In addition to coastal flooding and dangerously high surf, SoCal saw widespread rain, dozens of crashes on slick roads, downed trees and power outages on Sunday.
A High Surf Advisory for the coast remains in effect through 11 p.m. Tuesday.
SEE ALSO: High surf from Hurricane Marie floods Seal Beach, fuels dangerous rip currents
Water inundated parking lots near the Seal Beach Pier as lifeguards warned of high surf, rip currents and increased rescues along the coast.
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