Tropical Storm Rachel leaves Long Beach homes unsafe and sets a Las Vegas rain record

Tropical Storm Rachel battered Southern California over the weekend then dumped record rain on Las Vegas. On Monday coastal towns still face high tides while crews shore up damaged homes on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Homes declared unsafe in Long Beach

Heavy surf slammed into oceanfront houses along Seaside Walk. Inspectors posted red tags on about eight buildings spanning roughly 13 addresses and put a yellow tag on one more that limits use. Waves left at least one home on 66th Place with an open exterior wall and furniture hanging from broken windows.

A mandatory evacuation covers homes between 64th and 66th Places and remains in force through midday Tuesday. City officials also warned residents on nearby Seaside Walk blocks to be ready to leave. Assistant Fire Chief Jake Heflin urged people not to go back inside damaged houses for belongings because the structures are unsafe.

Crews are stacking roughly 3,000-pound sandbags with a crane to reinforce a failing stretch of boardwalk. Mayor Rex Richardson said impacts like these are not normal for the peninsula and asked residents to stay away while workers clean up.

High tides still a threat

The National Weather Service said the storm's peak danger has eased across Southern California. Coastal flood advisories still stretch between San Diego County and San Luis Obispo County with another round of high tides near 7.5 feet expected Monday and Tuesday mornings. Beach erosion and flooded parking lots remain likely and rough surf plus rip currents keep small boats and swimmers at risk.

Authorities are looking into the death of a man found at Dockweiler Beach on Sunday morning and whether storm conditions played a role. Newport Beach officials said berms held and the city avoided major flooding after working through the weekend.

Record rain and rescues in Las Vegas

Rachel's remnants moved inland overnight Saturday. Between midnight and Sunday morning Las Vegas measured 1.08 inches at the official gauge. That topped the old one-day mark of 0.78 inches from 2012 and matched the wettest October day on the books dating to Oct. 12 1947 according to the National Weather Service office there.

West valley neighborhoods took the heaviest hits. Parts of Summerlin saw more than 1.5 inches and Floyd Lamb State Park averaged about 2.7 inches. Firefighters performed about 10 water rescues by early Sunday afternoon. Flash flood warnings covered stretches of Southern Nevada and a wind advisory warned of gusts near 40 mph into Monday morning.

Weather also snarled air travel. Harry Reid International Airport saw 48 cancellations and 618 delays by Sunday evening as low clouds and rain slowed operations.

What comes next

Rachel reached Category 3 strength over warm Pacific water before it weakened and moved ashore in northern Baja California. Forecasters then tracked leftover moisture into the desert Southwest. Southern California may swing to dry Santa Ana winds later this week which raises wildfire risk after the coastal flooding eases.