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A huge storm and high tide that sent waves topping 20 feet slamming into the tourist mecca of Capitola last week, wreaking severe damage upon the city’s historic wharf and waterfront restaurant row, was highly dramatic — but not an anomaly.

Capitola has been a storm target since its early days as the privately owned “Camp Capitola” seaside resort, long before its incorporation as a city in 1949. And the wharf that lost a 40-foot section Jan. 5? It’s been there before. And not just once.

Capitola Village, long a beloved coastal getaway for Bay Area residents and a destination for visitors from all over the world, sits along a south-facing beach on a broad cove just down the coast from Santa Cruz on Monterey Bay. A 2017 City of Capitola report notes that “significant storms, with associated damage, strike the Monterey Bay communities with a frequency of one large storm every 3 to 4 years,” and that, “This equates to a 25% to 33% chance of a large storm occurring within Capitola in a given year.” Climate change effects on the Pacific Ocean, and on Soquel Creek that flows between Capitola Village’s colorful Venetian apartments and its beachfront restaurants as it meets the ocean, “could increase the probability and intensity of flooding in Capitola,” the report says.

Capitola Historical Museum curator Deborah Osterberg dug back into the past 100 years and compiled a litany of weather-wrought catastrophes befalling the Capitola village and wharf.

Men clamber through ocean-delivered debris after a storm hit Capitola's waterfront in 1913. Hotel Capitola, in the background, burned to the ground in 1929. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
Men clamber through ocean-delivered debris after a storm hit Capitola’s waterfront in 1913. Hotel Capitola, in the background, burned to the ground in 1929. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 
The Capitola Wharf, with a section torn out by a 1913 storm in nearly the same area of the structure that was taken out by the Jan. 5, 2023 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
The Capitola Wharf, with a section torn out by a 1913 storm in nearly the same area of the structure that was taken out by the Jan. 5, 2023 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 

In 1913, a surging ocean full of debris swept across the beach, into the village and up Capitola Avenue. “Huge waves smashed against the wharf, taking out a 200-foot section,” Osterberg said. A fisherman named Alberto Gibelli, who had gone out to the end of the wharf to secure his boats and equipment, was left stranded until a rescue boat arrived and a rope and life preserver were tossed. Gibelli “tied the rope under his arms and leapt into the ocean and he was pulled to safety,” Osterberg said.

That storm destroyed a section of the wharf in the same area as the portion washed away lasts week. According to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, during episodes of very high surf, a sandbar develops near the Capitola Wharf in roughly the same spot. “This influences where waves will crest and unleash their force,” the museum tweeted Saturday, with photos of the damage in 1913 and 2023. “Hence, history repeating itself.”

Thirteen years later, Mother Nature struck again, with the same kind of double-whammy delivered to Capitola last week: giant waves on top of a high tide. Again, the village was flooded as far as Capitola Avenue, a block from the ocean. And as occurred last week, the Venetian apartments — the picturesque row of habitations starring today in many a social media post — suffered damage. So high were the waves that they slammed into the Hotel Capitola’s second floor. A bathhouse and boathouse with distinctive arches in its beachfront facade made it through, but its wooden dressing rooms were splintered apart.

Storm hitting Capitola in 1926 with waves surging into the bathhouse/boathouse (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
Storm hitting Capitola in 1926 with waves surging into the bathhouse/boathouse (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 
A man paddles a canoe through a flooded Capitola Village a half-block from the beach after a 1926 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum -- Macdonald Collection)
A person paddles a canoe through a flooded Capitola Village a half-block from the beach after a 1926 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum — Macdonald Collection) 

Today, roughly the same distance from the ocean where a person was photographed paddling a canoe in the village after that 1926 storm, is El Toro Bravo restaurant, serving Mexican food at a low point in the village — for 55 years. The January 2023 storm sent seawater surging all the way to the back of the restaurant, said Hillary Guzman, granddaughter of founder Delia Ray. The establishment has seen multiple floods, but the ocean hadn’t gotten so far back inside during previous events, Guzman said.

In 1931, another major tide-and-storm combo hit, trashing vacation cabins and wiping out a newly built miniature-golf course on the waterfront esplanade.

Four years later, during another cataclysm, the ocean washed a playground off the Capitola waterfront. A historical photo shows that beside the former playground site, a wooden platform held up several beachfront businesses. Osterberg believes that platform, built in the 1920s, is the same structure that currently supports the restaurants badly damaged in last week’s storm, including Zelda’s, The Sand Bar and Paradise Beach Grill. This week, Capitola city manager Jamie Goldstein said an engineering assessment determined that the wooden platform, which sits on pilings above the sand and water, was “structurally safe” for crews to start fixing the buildings, but would require expensive repairs. Also this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on an undamaged portion of the platform and told news media the state was not “walking away” from the damage to Capitola, but he declined to specify what assistance might be forthcoming.

A playground was washed off the Capitola waterfront in a 1931 storm, revealing a wooden platform built in the 1920's holding up oceanside businesses. The platform is believed to be the same structure that holds several Capitola Village restaurants over the water and was significantly damaged in the Jan. 5, 2023 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
A playground was washed off the Capitola waterfront in a 1931 storm, revealing a wooden platform built in the 1920’s holding up oceanside businesses. The platform is believed to be the same structure that holds several Capitola Village restaurants over the water and was significantly damaged in the Jan. 5, 2023 storm. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 
Waves hit a cafe and apartments on the Capitola waterfront during a storm believed by the Capitola Historical Museum to have struck in 1983. By the time a storm hit Capitola Village on Jan. 5, 2023, the cafe site had become Capitola Bar & Grill, several apartments remained as apartments, and some had become Margaritaville. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
Waves hit a cafe and apartments on the Capitola waterfront during a storm believed by the Capitola Historical Museum to have struck in 1983. By the time a storm hit Capitola Village on Jan. 5, 2023, the cafe site had become Capitola Bar & Grill, several apartments remained as apartments, and some had become Margaritaville. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 
A man walks through floodwaters amid severe damage to Capitola Village from a 1983 storm (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum -- Dennis Noonan photo)
A man walks through floodwaters amid severe damage to Capitola Village from a 1983 storm (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum — Dennis Noonan photo) 
Hotel Capitola, completed in 1895, gets slammed by a wave in a 1926 storm. The 160-room resort structure burned to the ground three years later. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum)
Hotel Capitola, completed in 1895, gets slammed by a wave in a 1926 storm. The 160-room resort structure burned to the ground three years later. (courtesy of Capitola Historical Museum) 

The Venetian apartments got slammed again in 1937.

In 1958, storm-driven seawater hit the esplanade so forcefully that it knocked the horses off a merry-go-round.

Then 25 years later, the wharf took major blows from a series of storms that broke 35 feet off its end and destroyed a 30-foot section.

Newsom and Capitola officials said this week it was too early to tally the financial damage from last week’s storm. The city lifted no-entry orders for the three waterfront restaurants most severely damaged, and restaurant owners now have crews working to rebuild. Josh Whitby, co-owner of Zelda’s, has removed the seawater, kelp and broken trees that filled his dining room after waves pushed a large beam from the wharf through the waterfront windows and wall. The beam, however, remains. “It’s probably going to end up as part of our decor,” Whitby said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, surveys storm damage with Capitola city manager Jamie Goldstein inside Zelda's restaurant in Capitola, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, surveys storm damage with Capitola city manager Jamie Goldstein inside Zelda’s restaurant in Capitola, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury) 
Powerful waves continue to batter the Capitola Wharf Thursday morning after the storm destroyed a section of the structure. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Powerful waves continue to batter the Capitola Wharf Thursday morning after the storm destroyed a section of the structure. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) 
The Capitola Venetian Hotel is cleaned up, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, one day after it was pummeled by storm-fueled, high tide breakers in Capitola, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Capitola Venetian Hotel is cleaned up, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, one day after it was pummeled by storm-fueled, high tide breakers in Capitola, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
Debris is seen piled up in front of a restaurant following a massive storm that hit the area on January 06, 2023 in Capitola, California. A powerful storm pounded the West Coast this weeks that uprooted trees and cut power for tens of thousands on the heels of record rainfall over the weekend. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Debris is seen piled up in front of a restaurant following a massive storm that hit the area on January 06, 2023 in Capitola, California. A powerful storm pounded the West Coast this weeks that uprooted trees and cut power for tens of thousands on the heels of record rainfall over the weekend. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) 
The Capitola Venetian Hotel is cleaned up, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, one day after it was pummeled by storm-fueled, high tide breakers in Capitola, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Capitola Venetian Hotel is cleaned up, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, one day after it was pummeled by storm-fueled, high tide breakers in Capitola, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
Josh Whitby, co-owner of Capitola Village's iconic waterfront Zelda's restaurant shows on his phone photos of damage inside Zelda's and floodwaters and debris outside the restaurant. (Ethan Baron/Bay Area News Group)
Josh Whitby, co-owner of Capitola Village’s iconic waterfront Zelda’s restaurant took a photo of the outside of his restaurant after floodwaters subsided. (Photo by Josh Whitby) 
Part of a deck swept down Soquel Creek in Capitola Village near Santa Cruz passes by the colorful Venetian apartments, which have been hammered by broken-tree debris that washed into the ocean in recent storms and were pushed ashore by giant ocean swells and a high tide. (Ethan Baron/ Bay Area News Group)
Part of a deck swept down Soquel Creek in Capitola Village near Santa Cruz passes by the colorful Venetian apartments, which have been hammered by broken-tree debris that washed into the ocean in recent storms and were pushed ashore by giant ocean swells and a high tide. (Ethan Baron/ Bay Area News Group) 
A bulldozer begins clearing debris from the street at Capitola Village after massive waves pushed seawater and debris down the street damaging bars and restaurants along Esplanade in Capitola, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
A bulldozer begins clearing debris from the street at Capitola Village after massive waves pushed seawater and debris down the street damaging bars and restaurants along Esplanade in Capitola, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 
This aerial view shows a damaged pier is split in Capitola, California, on January 9, 2023. - A massive storm called a "bomb cyclone" by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
This aerial view shows a damaged pier is split in Capitola, California, on January 9, 2023. – A massive storm called a “bomb cyclone” by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) 
This aerial view shows a damaged pier is split in Capitola, California, on January 9, 2023. - A massive storm called a "bomb cyclone" by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
This aerial view shows a damaged pier is split in Capitola, California, on January 9, 2023. – A massive storm called a “bomb cyclone” by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) 
The pier at Capitola Wharf is seen split in half from Aptos, California on January 9, 2023. - A massive storm called a "bomb cyclone" by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The pier at Capitola Wharf is seen split in half from Aptos, California on January 9, 2023. – A massive storm called a “bomb cyclone” by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause widespread flooding throughout the state. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) 
Storm damage in Capitola Village on Thursday. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Storm damage in Capitola Village on Thursday. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) 
Waves in the Monterey Bay continue to batter the storm-damaged Capitola Wharf this week which is seen through a passageway on the Capitola Esplanade. Frederick Hihn built the original Capitola Wharf in the mid-19th Century with the intention of shipping lumber from the site and the structure has been destroyed and rebuilt in the same locations numerous times since then. Before our current onslaught of atmospheric rivers the wharf was severely damaged by storms in 1978, 1982 and 1985 and was eventually restored in 1998 at a cost of about a million dollars. The Capitola Wharf is actually a pier by nautical standard. Piers are berthing structures that run perpendicular to the shore while a wharf runs parallel to the shore. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Waves in the Monterey Bay continue to batter the storm-damaged Capitola Wharf this week which is seen through a passageway on the Capitola Esplanade. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) 

 

 

 

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