Huge Waves Clip Redondo Beach Pier as Strong Winds Slash Southland

Wind-whipped waves washed away a 155-foot section of the Redondo Beach pier Saturday, as gusts of up to 45 m.p.h. felled power lines, knocked down trees and fanned minor brush fires in Southern California, authorities said.

A 48-year-old man was presumed drowned after he was struck by rigging and fell from a yacht sailing in 8-foot seas north of Santa Catalina Island, the Coast Guard said. A search for the man, whose name was not released, was called off about 8 p.m.

In Redondo Beach, a section of the municipal pier that connects horseshoe-shaped Fisherman’s Wharf with the adjacent Monstad Pier was swept into the sea about 6 p.m., police said, shortly after authorities had evacuated about 500 people from the structures.

No serious injuries were reported.

“It’s awesome,” said Officer Robert Remington of the Redondo Beach Police Department. “It’s surprising what the ocean will do.”

The area that vanished into the waves was said to be less than five years old and used primarily for fishing. It was not part of the central pier complex that houses restaurants and shops. However, at least one restaurant on the main pier suffered damage to its floor as waves of up to 15-feet broke underneath, police said.

A Jan. 17-18 storm damaged the northernmost section of Fisherman’s Wharf, which has has been closed ever since.

Redondo Beach police said the section of the pier that collapsed Saturday was not damaged in the January storm.

Damage in Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and other coastal communities was confined largely to blowing sand and downed power lines, authorities said. No other piers were damaged.

Elsewhere, the strong winds, which are expected to subside today, knocked down five trees in the Carson area and sent power lines sparking to the ground. Power failures affected about 45,000 customers in various neighborhoods in Southland communities from Malibu to Palm Springs, authorities said.

In Rancho Palos Verdes, a fire started by a discarded cigarette on the Hawthorne Boulevard median strip was driven by the wind into a heavily wooded area nearby, where it burned a half-acre and caused $500 in damage to the roof of one home, firefighters said.

Sparks from power lines briefly ignited several other fires in the South Bay area, but they were quickly extinguished.

In Redondo Beach, a member of a television crew got a brief dunking when a piling loosened by the waves struck him as he had his back turned to the sea, authorities said. He suffered a minor cut on the leg.

High wind warnings were issued for all mountain and desert areas, where dust and sandstorms were expected to gust up to 65 m.p.h. and reduce visibility to less than one-quarter mile in some areas.

Gale warnings issued along the coast sent many weekend sailors scurrying back into harbors from Ventura to Palos Verdes. A small craft warning was in effect from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.