Beachfront homeowners and beachcombers are watching the sand vanish into the ocean as torrid waves strike the coast. Powerful swells this year have swallowed beaches and damaged homes in parts of Southern California. Sept. 25, 2026 Updated 8:45 p.m. ET Southern Californians have long viewed the disappearance of their prized beaches as an abstract problem for future generations to solve. Not anymore.

Giant swells have pounded the coast in recent weeks, laying bare the immediate vulnerability of the state’s oceanfront. In Long Beach, residents were forced to flee as the Pacific battered their homes this month. Up the coast, a gaping sinkhole prompted evacuations in Malibu outside of the actor Nicolas Cage’s mansion.

In Orange County, the relentless waves cut off a key rail line and left a section of a popular beach parking lot crumbled like a smashed pack of Oreos. Multimillion-dollar houses washed into the sea. And Southern California residents are again facing the prospect of relentless waves this weekend as a distant hurricane off the coast of Mexico could wreak havoc up the Pacific Coast.

Experts warn that this year’s El Niño could be the strongest ever recorded, bringing even more damaging surf.