The new year was a wild ride for many on the West Coast, with storm activity that began in late December and crescendoed with early January’s “Bomb Cyclone.” And while the Sierras welcomed all the snow, towns on the coast were pummeled by waves. Few were hit as hard as Santa Cruz County, which the U.S. President declared a disaster area at one point.
“The Seacliff Pier lost approximately half its length, the Capitola Pier, a section about 30 feet across,” Jason Smith wrote after the dust settled, detailing just some of the damage left behind. “Picnic pergolas at Seacliff State Beach were flattened, or smashed and the bits spread out like pick-up sticks. Iron railings along seaside pathways were bent or broken or gone completely. Asphalt was peeled off roads. West Cliff Drive lost a chunk the size of a house in the shape of a great white shark bite.”
The damage to the Seacliff Pier became one of the most memorable images of the whole event, in part because the image of the pier itself had always been so unique. The SS Palo Alto sitting at the pier’s end made the location iconic even if it never did draw the flood of tourists it was intended to when developers dragged the old World War I ship to Aptos and built the pier that led to it.
It turns out what’s left of the pier since January’s storms has been deemed unsalvageable by local officials. So, over the weekend, Santa Cruz County locals showed up at Seacliff Pier for a beach cleanup and an official farewell to the iconic pier.
A monster ocean swell pummeled the pier at Seacliff State Beach in Santa Cruz County on Jan. 5. The iconic “cement ship” broke away as parts of the pier collapsed into the sea. Drone video by Philip Lima.
My full story: https://t.co/ZBdRI62F5s #AtmosphericRiver @kron4news pic.twitter.com/EH67K2fusx— Amy Larson (@AmyLarson25) January 6, 2023
