Long Beach saw flooding, at least one sinkhole and a significant Metro outage Saturday as heavy and sustained rains continued for much of the day.

By 3 p.m., the city had received nearly 1.25 inches of rain, a significant amount for a city and region already saturated after storms last weekend. Forecasters say rain will continue through much of Saturday, with another storm predicted Sunday night into Monday morning.

Before Saturday, the city had received 7.57 inches of rain, which is about 160% of normal for this time of year.

Rain waters fills into the beach between the protective berm and houses in the Peninsula neighborhood of Long Beach on Jan. 14, 2023. The 62nd Place lifeguard station is placed here at the end of the Peninsula during the fall and winter months. Photo by Richard Grant.

Authorities on Saturday received reports of flooding in the area of 60th and 63rd places on the Peninsula, which is below sea level and a common flooding spot.

Flooding was also reported in the 3500 block of Santa Fe Avenue, and in Belmont Shore at Division Street and St. Joseph Avenue.

Flooding was reported at Division Street and St. Joseph Avenue Saturday in Long Beach. Photo by Kat Schuster.

Public works crews were also working to repair a sinkhole that emerged at Orange Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Central Long Beach on Saturday. One lane of PCH between Walnut and Orange avenues near the Long Beach City College PCH campus was closed.

The hole did not appear deep, but the entire lane of traffic was impassable Saturday afternoon.

A sinkhole was reported at Orange Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Central Long Beach on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. Photo by David Sommers.

And, in addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. festival being cancelled due to rain, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team had a rainout in its game against Hawaii Saturday—even though the game was indoors, according to the The562.org. Water flooded the Walter Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach where the team plays.

The game was being moved to another location, with tipoff yet to be announced.

Crews were also working to restore electricity to the Metro A Line near Downtown after a pole fire cut electricity, authorities said.

The stretch of Long Beach Boulevard between 10th and 12th streets is closed in both directions as Metro and city crews continued to work on Saturday.

Both a high surf advisory and a flood advisory were in effect for Long Beach until Monday night and Sunday night, respectively, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS weather agency predicted about a half-inch per hour would fall in most of Los Angeles County Saturday. 

“With these rates, impacts will be slightly greater than what would normally occur with a storm of this magnitude since the ground is still fairly saturated from previous rain, but still just on the minor side, including small mudslides in the foothills and mountains and typical minor road flooding,” according to the NWS.

Sandbags were available at several fire stations in Long Beach.

 

The precipitation should taper off Saturday night, and the area should get a break from the rain until late afternoon Sunday, when another less-powerful storm moves in. That system is expected to linger over the area into Monday.  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday declared a local state of emergency due to the recent storms and impending additional rain. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have also declared a state of emergency over the storms to speed the process of disaster relief.  

Conditions should dry out by Tuesday, beginning a mostly rain-free week, but some Santa Ana winds could develop by later in the week.

City News Service contributed to this report.