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Long Beach neighborhood floods prompting swift-water rescues
Long Beach Feb 07, 2025
Cars sit in high water Friday in a Long Beach neighborhood after a water main broke. | Photo courtesy of the Long Beach Fire Department/Facebook
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A broken water main caused flooding overnight Friday in Long Beach’s Bixby Hill area, with heavy rain intensifying rising water levels.
By about 6:30 a.m. Friday, 3 to 4 feet of water accumulated in an area of the 700 block of Rancho Drive, near California State University, Long Beach, according to the city’s fire department Capt. Jack Crabtree. Water reached the windows of parked cars in the area.
Firefighters arrived at the scene of the flood at about 4:30 a.m., then requested assistance from Long Beach utilities crews, Crabtree told City News Service.
Swift-water rescue teams helped two people evacuate from their home at 6:30 a.m., according to the fire department.
Video of the flooding showed rescuers in waist-deep water assisting a resident in a raft.
No injuries were reported, Crabtree said.
Debris clearance from nearby drains was expected to help water levels recede, and the large water main break was contained by 8:30 a.m., according to Crabtree.
Long Beach fire officials were “aware of one additional area where water is still flowing, though it is significantly less” and said emergency repairs were ongoing.