Scripps’ New Program Forecast Imperial Beach Flooding, Helped City Brace For Impact

Massive waves crushed the Imperial Beach shoreline at dawn Friday, flooding sections of Seacoast Drive all the way to the Tijuana River Estuary. Many residents boarded up windows and put out sandbags in preparation for the 15-foot waves that covered the entire beach during high tide, inundating streets and garages. However, the city would’ve been caught off guard had it not been for an experimental warning system launched just months ago by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.