Tropical Storm Rachel tears through Long Beach, red tagging beachfront homes

Long Beach, California is counting the damage after Tropical Storm Rachel sent powerful waves crashing through its beachfront neighborhoods on Saturday, destroying homes and tearing apart the city's historic boardwalk.

The worst of it hit the Alamitos Peninsula, where massive surf broke through wooden sections of the century old waterfront boardwalk and sent seawater rushing into homes and streets. At least eight buildings representing 13 addresses were red tagged as unsafe to enter, while another was yellow tagged, letting residents in only briefly to retrieve belongings, according to Mayor Rex Richardson.

Natalie Cabrera, 59, stood near her rented beachfront bungalow and described watching the ocean come underneath the building. The floor is squishy, she said, because the ocean just kept hitting and hitting the home and the water went underneath. She has lived on the peninsula for a year and a half and now plans to move inland to live with her son.

For some residents the storm meant watching houses they had dreamed of owning get swallowed by the sea. Families were forced to evacuate as waves kept pounding through Saturday.

Rachel is the latest in a punishing run of storms to hit Southern California this season. The region is still recovering from flooding when the storm's remnants came ashore earlier in the week, and officials warned residents to stay clear of damaged structures while inspectors work through the red tagged buildings.