Crews on the Santa Cruz beachfront are assessing the damage after a 150-foot section of the iconic Municipal Wharf collapsed into Monterey Bay amid heavy surf Monday afternoon.
The section at the end of the 110-year-old pier was still undergoing repairs from storm damage one year ago. While that meant that there were no members of the public on the portion that collapsed, authorities say three construction workers were swept into the raging waters. Two had to be rescued, while a third was able to swim to safety.
“We have nobody injured, nobody lost. Everyone is accounted for,” Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley told KAZU.
Less clear is the status of the wharf, which has been closed indefinitely until crews can determine if there is additional structural damage.
“We're in an ongoing situation right now,” Keeley said. “This could further damage the wharf in terms of its underlying structural integrity. So we will take the time necessary to figure that out.”
Even before the collapse, which occurred at around 12:45 p.m., visitors and workers on the wharf said they could sense the potential danger.
“These waves were bigger than I’ve ever seen,” said Joseph Sweeney of San Jose, who was fishing off of the pier with two friends, not far from the collapse. “They were like moving mountains.”
Another member of the group, Braxton Wong, said he and his friends began hearing cracking sounds before the outermost section of the wharf began listing to the left.
“It was leaning, like a 45 degree angle,” Wong said. “It was very scary.”
Nearby, Municipal Wharf maintenance worker Joe Merrill was watching the high seas with growing concern.
“We knew that the waves were going to be big today, but we didn’t think they were going to be this powerful,” he said. “And then all of a sudden, my coworker says, ‘My God, look, look, look!’ And I look, and we just saw the end of the wharf starting to collapse like dominos.”
Merrill said he saw a construction crane fall into the water. Its whereabouts are not yet clear. The remnants of a building containing rest rooms at the end of the pier were swept onto the beach. Both Main Beach and Cowell’s Beach, which sit on either side of the wharf, have been closed because of the debris, and boaters are being warned to avoid the area.
“These are serious, serious hazards for people and for any kind of navigation,” Keeley said.
City crews were in the midst of a $4 million project to repair the wharf following storms last year that damaged several pilings and caused the permanent closure of the Dolphin Seafood restaurant, said Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Director Tony Eliot at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Eliot said the city had moved crews away from the construction site ahead of the approaching swell this week, but a handful remained on scene to assess the wharf’s structural integrity, including the two contractors and one city employee who were swept into the water. No one was seriously hurt.
But the extent of damage to the wharf is still unclear, and it may be for a while.
“Staff will continue to monitor conditions. We'll continue to assess the wharf today and really through the week,” Eliot said. “Now, we're balancing that with staff safety during these current conditions and high swell event.”
Those conditions are forecast to continue through the week, raising concerns that the worst may not be over for the historic wharf.
“We are anticipating that what is coming towards us is more serious than what was there this morning,” Keeley said. “I'm very concerned that we will lose additional portions of our municipal wharf.”
