Dangerous waves attract surfers, prompt weather alerts
SAN FRANCISCO - Tourists were drawn to the Bay Area to catch a glimpse of the large waves, courtesy of Friday’s storm, when high surf and coastal flooding were a concern.
"Holy cow! Oh my God!" TikTok user @Kirbycove415 captured the impact of waves crashing into the parking lot at Fort Point at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, hitting his windshield.
"That was too much. I’m out of here," @Kirbycove415 said.
The dangerous swells on Friday, forecast to be up to 19 feet, attracted surfers who came to ride the waves and wipe out, along with plenty of onlookers.
"My brother had the window down. I was like ‘Put the window up! You’re gonna get us all wet!’" Allison DaSilva said while visiting with her family from the Fresno area.
The waves got high enough to breach the sea wall, over and over.
"I was parked down the road and my car was getting sprayed with sea salt," Luis Munez of Fresno said, adding he got a free car wash out of it.
Further inland, the Santa Rosa Fire Department is preparing for minor flooding on roadways and strong winds.
"We’re asking residents who haven’t taken down holiday decorations to think about pulling them down," Santa Rosa Fire Division Chief and Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal told KTVU. "We’ve seen them blow into power lines and lead to outages."
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On the coast and in the Santa Cruz mountains, residents assess damage and brace for rain
While some are taking this latest storm in stride, others are bracing for it after suffering damage from the waves and weather in recent days.
In San Rafael, PG&E is monitoring outages.
Strong winds have the potential to knock down trees, which could take down powerlines.
"If you’re out and about in your community after a storm, and you see a wire down, assume that it’s energized. Stay away from it. Call 911." PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland said.
PG&E crews have replacement power poles and wires ready to deploy.
Back at the shore, the Montes brothers are soaking it all in on a family road trip.
"Some of these waves are pretty killer themselves," Noah Montes of San Diego said. "Once they hit the rocks it just splashes you. You feel like you’re in SeaWorld or something like that."
"This is like my favorite weather and San Francisco’s like the place to be for it," Jonah Montes said while visiting from Arizona.
The National Weather Service is advising people to avoid the beach, because of the risk of sneaker waves which can come out of nowhere and pull you out to sea.