Huge Waves, Flooding in Southern Calif

Huge Waves Crash Onto California Coast

Huge waves pounded the Southern California coast Wednesday, forcing the rescue of struggling surfers, closing piers and causing minor flooding.

The National Weather Service warned of breakers 15 feet to 20 feet or higher in coastal areas northwest of Los Angeles, and waves exceeding

15 feet along San Diego County.

The swells were generated by storms in the Pacific, but the first day of winter in Southern California was summerlike and crowds gathered on beaches to watch the churning surf.

The piers at Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach were closed, said Los Angeles County lifeguard Capt. Terry Harvey. In San Diego County, piers at Ocean Beach and Imperial Beach also were closed.

"We're trying to warn surfers that we have high surf and strong rip currents and they should use extreme caution," said Venice Beach lifeguard Capt. Mike Cunningham.

At Seal Beach, a surfer trying to ride big waves broke a leg when he was thrown into the sand, said lifeguard Capt. Ross Pounds.

Huge surf also pounded San Diego's beaches. In Encinitas, a north San Diego suburb, thousands of spectators -- mothers with strollers, bicyclists in helmets, and businessmen in suits and ties -- stopped for a glimpse. In San Diego, extra lifeguards were posted.

"This is the kind of day we all wait for," John Roseman, who rode waves in La Jolla, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

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[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Upon first seeing this headline in the news feed, I wondered if it was a sort of 'minature tsuami', and I have heard elsewhere that there is a dangerous 'crack' in the ocean just off the coast of middle/southern California which is just waiting for an earthquake in that spot which will force a _real_ tsuami. Is that right or wrong? PAT]

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