Paris Porter, a hopeful Team USA sailor targeting the 2028 Olympics, has been left heartbroken after Tropical Storm Rachel destroyed the California home she shared with her husband.
The 30-year-old athlete posted emotional footage online showing powerful waves tearing into the Long Beach Peninsula property, eventually causing the house to collapse beneath the storm-driven surf.
“You know that house you constantly see half-crumbled in the news, drone shots and viral posts of the Long Beach Peninsula? Well, that was our home,” Porter wrote.
She added: “Three hurricane swells in six weeks in Southern California? Unheard of…”
Melanie Miller, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Fire Department, told the California Post that the damage began with Hurricane Marie in September and worsened over time.
“Then Hurricane Polo, now Rachel. It’s been continuous damage since then,” Miller said.
Porter said losing the rental home she shared with RJ Porter—and watching neighboring properties suffer as well—had been devastating for the entire community.
“RJ and I started our life here. We went from engaged to married. We had family three blocks away. We made it a tradition to have Wednesday night dinners with family and friends every week. We watched numerous sunsets and had the view of a lifetime out those windows,” she said.
Paris Porter, 30, is pursuing a place on the U.S. sailing team for the 2028 Olympic Games and shared emotional video of her California home collapsing beneath the storm-fueled waves.
Porter said the destruction of the home she rented with her husband, RJ Porter, along with the damage to nearby properties, “breaks our hearts.”
Porter, whose brother is also a professional sailor, competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and is now aiming for the 2028 Olympics.
The couple said they had found temporary accommodation for the next eight months “as we try and figure out what’s next.”
“To see three storms undo a place that brought so much peace is devastating, especially knowing how deeply it impacts our neighbors who lost so much more. The peninsula will always hold a special place in our hearts,” Porter wrote.
Porter and her husband said they have arranged temporary housing for eight months while they determine their next steps.
Porter, whose brother is also a professional sailor, represented the United States at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and won a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Over the weekend, Storm Rachel battered Southern California with heavy rain, fierce winds and enormous waves, leaving Long Beach’s century-old boardwalk severely damaged.
Video recorded Friday night showed towering swells slamming into a home in the 6500 block of Seaside Walk. The water rose as high as the second-floor windows while pieces of the building and shattered boardwalk sections were swept out to sea.
Additional images captured floodwater spreading across nearby streets and patios before rushing into homes and damaging surrounding properties.
“It is not normal that we see this type of activity,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said Saturday.
“Just in this season, this marks the third hurricane in just six weeks. We saw Hurricane Marie over Labor Day, which was followed soon by Hurricane Polo, and now Rachel is bringing with it more high tides, more surf, erosion that continues to cause damage to properties and damage along our coastline.”
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Chilling footage on Friday night showed towering swells crashing against a home in the 6500 block of Seaside Walk, reaching its second-story windows as sections of the building and broken pieces of boardwalk drifted into the ocean
Local officials distributed 7,600 sandbags in hopes of helping residents protect their properties
The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning on Friday afternoon for Los Angeles County beaches until Sunday, as forecasters expected waves of four to seven feet
‘This is easily the most damage I have seen over the past couple of weeks,’ said KTLA’s Rich Prickett, whose crew captured the destruction from a helicopter overhead.
‘Now the entire boardwalk is just starting to shred away, and now some of these homes are being impacted even more severely,’ he added.
‘As you’re seeing this house right here that’s starting to crumble as that erosion just continues underneath the house.’
The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning on Friday afternoon for Los Angeles County beaches until 3pm on Sunday, as forecasters expected waves reaching four to seven feet.
‘It’s really heartbreaking to see how much has been affected with the surf and the high tides and everything. I mean, people are losing their houses,’ Stacey Sniezak, Long Beach neighbor, told ABC 7.
Local officials distributed 7,600 sandbags in hopes of helping residents protect their properties.
Miller added, however, that ‘you can only do so much during low tide.’
‘There are limited windows of opportunity, and the dynamics are working against you,’ she said.
Mayor Rex Richardson said the city was taking the situation ‘very seriously,’ adding that it emphasized ‘an importance to be incredibly serious in our region and in our state around climate resilience and coastal resiliency’
Over the weekend, Storm Rachel rained down on Southern California and left Long Beach’s century-old boardwalk battered by blistering winds and towering waves
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‘We’re looking at an unprecedented high tide, potentially 7.8 to 8 feet, which is significant for this area,’ Long Beach Fire Department Assistant Chief Jake Heflin said.
‘We’re not just talking about the peninsula, we’re not talking just about Naples, we’re talking about the potential for a citywide impact.’
Mayor Richardson said the city was taking the situation ‘very seriously,’ adding that it emphasized ‘an importance to be incredibly serious in our region and in our state around climate resilience and coastal resiliency.’
The Daily Mail reached out to Porter for comment.