Santa Cruz Wharf collapse: Man rescued from floating debris after waving for help

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Dangerous waves brought down a chunk of the Santa Cruz Wharf on Monday, sending three people into the water.

Viewer video of the aftermath showed the moment one of the victims was rescued by a lifeguard on a jet ski. Before the lifeguard arrived, the man, wearing a hard hat, was seen standing on top of floating debris from the collapsed wharf, waving his arms for help. A second man was also seen nearby floating on the remnants of the wharf.

Jenni Marin, who owns Marini's Candies near the wharf, captured the rescue.

"You just don't expect anything like that to happen," she said.

Three teens who were fishing in the area said they witnessed large swells in the water. Moments later, a 150-foot section of the wharf collapsed into the ocean.

"We noticed that the pier was swaying a lot, and we heard a lot of cracking. But we didn't think much of it. Then all of a sudden it all fell into the water," said 15-year-old Landon Ky. "There were construction workers on it. And it sounded like thunder."

The boys ran for safety, then returned to see three men stranded on the partial platform as it slowly sank into the sea.

"Pretty scary. Because we thought the pier was cracking underneath us as we were running. So we just thought we were in a movie, running away from the cracks and stuff," said 15-year-old Bryson Wong.

At an afternoon news conference, Santa Cruz city officials said three people—a city project manager and two contract engineers—were checking a section of the wharf at the far end as it was undergoing a $4 million renovation. The wharf had been damaged over time during previous storms.

"Our staff, our contractors had no sense or indication that the wharf was going to give way. Again, they were out there doing inspections as part of our preparations to make sure that the wharf was safe," said Tony Elliot with the Santa Cruz Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Santa Cruz fire chief said his department had personnel already pre-positioned because of forecasted large swells.

"We were proactively in the water patrolling the coastline with PWCs, and we also had lifeguards patrolling the cliffs," said Chief Rob Oatey.

Those first responders rescued two of the victims, and the third got himself out of the water.

Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker said, "This is another example of how talking with our weather experts, Mother Nature can surprise us."

Officials said the wharf is closed indefinitely due to the collapse.

Additionally, late Monday afternoon, a public safety alert was issued asking people to stay out of the water at all coastal beaches.

"We are anticipating that what is coming next is worse than what came this morning. This is going to be high tide at a time when we have king tides in the Pacific Ocean," said Mayor Fred Keeley.

Santa Cruz Main Beach and Cowell's Beach are closed.

Seabright is also closing its beaches, and Capitola is bracing for possible flooding Monday night and into Tuesday.