New York Post, on Climate, 25 October 2026

6.0out of 10Serious

5-star hotel in the crosshairs as coastal flooding pushes SoCal to its limits

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A luxury Laguna Beach resort is moving guests off its first floor as pounding Pacific surf threatens Southern California, with coastal flooding and significant beach erosion forecast from Sunday through Thursday. The Surf & Sand Resort is taking extra precautions as waves batter the beachfront property , with a hotel employee telling The California Post that no guests will be placed on the first floor because of the threat. “We are putting no guests on the first floor,” the employee said, describing the move as an abundance of caution.

The worker said the building itself had not been damaged and had withstood major storms in the past. 7 High tides crash against coastal hotels and homes in Laguna Beach. Youtube/Skid Kids 7 High tides hit coastal homes and hotels as Beach Road in Capistrano Beach prepares for King Tides. Youtube/ Skid Kids Explore More California nursing grads face costly do-over as judge rejects college’s legal bid How JFK Jr.’s body was found under 116 feet of water — just hours after team considered calling off search Ilhan Omar’s deleted tweet may reveal that she really did marry her brother But the resort’s precautions underscore a broader threat facing coastal communities across Southern California, where . 7 The Surf & Sand Resort is taking extra precautions as waves batter the beachfront property.

Youtube/Skid Kids 7 The National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned that minor to moderate coastal flooding is likely from Sunday through Thursday. Youtube/ Skid Kids The National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned that minor to moderate coastal flooding is likely from Sunday through Thursday, with high tides reaching 7.5 to 8 feet — as much as 1.5 feet above projections. “HEADS UP!!!!” the agency warned , adding that moderate to significant beach erosion was likely and that some areas could face upgraded warnings.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters California Post News : Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X , YouTube , WhatsApp , LinkedIn California Post Sports Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , YouTube , X California Post Opinion California Post Newsletters : Sign up here! California Post App : Download here! Home delivery : Sign up here! Page Six Hollywood : Sign up here! 7 X/@NWSLosAngeles California’s Office of Emergency Services said a Coastal Flood Advisory would remain in effect along the state’s coast from Oct. 25 through Oct. 29, with Coastal Flood Warnings issued for Orange and San Diego counties.

At Surf & Sand, a newly circulated Instagram video purporting to show a section of the resort’s oceanfront seawall collapsing has added to concerns about the pounding surf. The extent of any structural damage has not been independently confirmed. View this post on Instagram Laguna Beach surfer and skimboarding champion Blair Conklin captured powerful surf pounding the shoreline, where dwindling sand has left beachfront properties more exposed.

“There’s a reason they call it Beach Road… you got the Surf and Sand is now the surf and boulder, and the Beach Road is now—it’s definitely a rocky road,” Conklin said. 7 Elevated tides and disappearing beaches are leaving homes, businesses and public infrastructure increasingly exposed. Youtube/ Skid Kids Conklin said offshore reefs that once helped break incoming waves were no longer providing the same protection. “Waves are not breaking on those reefs that used to protect our coast a little bit… they’re just passing the reefs because it’s deep enough and then doubling up and hitting all the structures on the inside—and there’s no sand buffer.”

The danger extends well beyond Laguna Beach. 🌊 A Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect along California’s coast from October 25 to October 29, with Coastal Flood Warnings issued for the coasts of San Diego and Orange counties. Elevated tides, amplified by the El Niño pattern, could increase the impacts of flooding in… pic.twitter.com/b488KT5eJs — California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (@Cal_OES) October 24, 2026 7 Youtube/ Skid Kids Crews are mounting a $4 million emergency operation to reinforce a fractured 360-foot bluff near El Moro and Crystal Cove, using heavy equipment, rocks and sand-filled plastic bags ahead of the king tides.

In Capistrano Beach, several homes along Beach Road have reportedly suffered structural damage . Six or seven homes have been red-tagged as uninhabitable and are undergoing demolition.

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What we found (1)

The New York Post reports the threat of king tides, coastal flooding and beach erosion to a Laguna Beach resort and other Southern California shoreline properties, citing National Weather Service and state emergency warnings. It describes a growing, long-term exposure of coastal communities and blames hurricane swells, El Niño and a Kelvin wave, but never once says that a warming climate is making such events worse.

  1. Leaves out the climate link

    Serious

    “The latest threat follows successive hurricane-generated swells associated with Marie, Polo and Rachel, which have stripped sand from beaches, while an oceanic Kelvin wave is contributing to elevated water levels.”

    Why this matters
    The Post lists the causes of the flooding threat as hurricane swells and an oceanic Kelvin wave, and elsewhere El Niño, and stops there.
    The impression it gives
    A reader comes away believing the flooding and erosion come only from natural weather patterns and a run of bad luck with storms.
    The context
    Human-caused warming has made intense tropical cyclones and heavy rainfall more frequent or more severe. The article never mentions climate change or warming anywhere.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.

    Show it in the article

    “elevated tides and disappearing beaches are leaving homes, businesses and public infrastructure increasingly exposed”

    Why this matters
    The Post describes a growing, long-term trend, with coasts "increasingly exposed", but gives no cause for the trend.
    The impression it gives
    A reader sees a worsening pattern along the coast with nothing to explain why it is getting worse.
    The context
    The documented record attributes the worsening of extremes such as intense tropical cyclones to human-caused warming. The article names the trend but leaves out the warming that drives it.

    How we know

    • On the recordIt is unequivocal that human influence, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels, has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    The flooding follows successive hurricane-generated swells and an El Niño pattern; climate change is making intense storms like these more severe, leaving coastal communities increasingly exposed.

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