LBPOST.com: PHOTOS: Life In Rain-Soaked Belmont Shore

Thursday, March 11, 2010 | Home

PHOTOS: Life In Rain-Soaked Belmont Shore

by Samuel Lippke | The Lippke View | 01.20.10 |

| Text Size:

Outside of my studio apartment, water fell onto the street. Sheets, buckets, cats & dogs; Belmont Shore residents had it all coming down on their heads & their streets.

Armed with my Canon 5D MII, boat shoes, and a trusty umbrella, I captured some of the intense flooding on 2nd St.

An unidentified man attempts to leap a growing amount of water� coffee in hand.

A Long Beach resident waits on her bike, making a decision about crossing the street or not. A Jamba Juice employee (right) in search of sandbags.

2nd St. Belmont Shore underwater.

Layla Ghassemian (left), a San Jose Resident, didn�t pack rain clothes while visiting her Cousin Samira Ghassemian (right). She said she packed mostly for sun.

Samira Ghassemian crosses the street in search of a dry place.

Belmont Shore outside of The Coffee Bean.

Argonne & 2nd St, Long Beach underwater.

Jamba Juice Manager looking for sandbags for his flooding shopfront.

Peter, co-owner of 5001, works hard to keep water from seeping into his store.

Greg comes out of AT&T with makeshift boots, happy for his umbrella.

Water flows over the sidewalk and into businesses.

Water flows underneath the doors at Jamba Juice.

An unidentified Long Beach resident crosses St. Joesph in Long Beach

Comments

Click Here to Leave a Comment

Reeverse
Great shots!!

krahmernader
Wow, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen these pics!

SSS
Best Shot: Unidentified man, Leaping

jkaplb
Let's not forget to thank the guys in their lifted trucks and Hummers who thought it was pretty cool to go racing around cars and pedestrians through the floods. Don't think they cared when their wake or 20 foot walls of water stalled cars that were carefully trying to get through the flooded streets. The same wake forced even more water into the shops. Nice going guys.

cm
Kudos on the d*bags in huge 4x4s. They made the flooding situation on Katella in Los Alamitos even worse yesterday by pushing all the water in the right lane to the left, causing hydroplaning and anger!

lbnative
The city should be blocking off the streets from cars once the streets flood. Like jkaplb said, the wake or in my case WAVE of water from the people "joy" riding in their cars created more damage. I finally went in the street and wouldn't let cars drive down my street. One man in a van speed down 3 times created so much more damage to all the homes on my block. WHERE WAS THE CITY to block off the streets? So frustrating!!!

OM
great photos! Hopefully the businesses didn't get too much damage.

CW
lbnative, how typical is it that people expect the government to protect them from everything! How many flooded streets do think there may have been in the entire city yet you ask "Where was the city". Excuse them that they were not posted on your particular street to make sure your house did not get a little wet during a severe storm!

Missing the Shore
OMG! I am going to cry! Living is South Flordia and wow...these pictures make home look good. As bad as the water looks, you still caputured the heart of Belmont. Such a great place to live....missing the shore!

bruinmom
CW, A little wet? Are you serious? My entire neighborhood was under water! It is a matter of public safety. Idiots like you are the those driving down those completely flooded streets creating more damage and you think its funny!

MOVING TO CALI
It is my understanding that the storm drains are filled with garbage and/or debris because you don't ever get this much rain at one time, is that why everything is flooded? Perhaps you could find a way to pressure the various Cali government agencies to use some money or get the things cleared to allow for these kinds of storms when they happen??? Just a thought.

Askmeno
What a big rain!

CW
bruinmom, what in the world were you reading? No where did I write that the storms were funny. I only stated that the city can not be expected to watch for bad or rude drivers on every street during a flood. Once again typical, blame the government for everything and anyone who does not agree with you is an idiot.

Argonne res
"Moving to Cali" is exactly right. I live on Argonne. The water went down almost immediately after the drain was cleared.

LeftCali
Blocked storm drains - nothing new for Long Beach. City won't maintain Palm Trees.

Beth
Great shots, Samuel...I knew it couldn't be anyone but you yesterday when I saw someone crossing the flooded streets in shorts with....a CAMERA!

New2LB
I am moving to my new place off 2nd St. in Belmont Shore on Sunday! Hope the flood waters are gone by then. At least my apartment is on the second floor.

anne
great shots of our usually beautiful 2nd street.......i'm sending to friends in the east. they will be amazed

snappy
Samuel, great photos. You got the eye. How come we get great photog in the LBPost but the PT's shots are pitiful... I mean, I studied Photo Journalism in college and have been reading daily newspapers for 30+ years and I can tell you that the PT regularly has photography on a par with a pre-schooler's snapshots!

Ben Hogan
Come on now you know you miss your family here in Southern Calif :(

haha I'm wet
That lbnative character is so typical of a 'oh save me from the universe, my neighbors, and myself, big government!' personality you find in socal. It's a big storm, yes you are going to get wet.

Peach
These are great shots! And you certainly live in a beautiful place! Love,

Farmdogs10and 50
I was out in the rain that day. I had a dentist appointment. The water was coming off the hill and flooding the Colorado Lagoon like a flash flood. Water was 4" above the sidewalks and yes there were many idiots purposely slashing children on the sidewalk to see them fall down. Southern California doesn't get this much rain volume in such a short time. Storm drains worked within minutes of the rain subsiding. Really not much debris in the bay after the rain either. I think all and all things went much better than expected. Had there been high tide at the time of the downpour things could have been much worse. We are over due for the 150 year flood, let's pray that it doesn't come this year.

LBOCEAN
Curbs? Were are all the Curbs! Great Photo's. I rather like the one showing the trail of green in the water from the signals. Hey, we need a restaurant down there called, "On the Waters Edge"

TCB
AWESOME! I LIVED IN THE SHORES DURING THE 70'S. IT HAS CHANGED ALOT SINCE THEN BUT I ACTUALLY LIVED ON SOME OF THE CROSS STEETS SHOWN. THANKS AND HOPE THAT IT IS NOT TOOOO WET THERE

Roberto Dobalina
If you're going to brag about your camera your using at least get it correct: Canon 5d MkII (you forgot the 'k'). At least your great pictures make up for the omission.

De$
Wow this is insane !! Great shotttssss hottieee :)

Anonymous
Please send relief.

CaptainJanuary
Crisis of Confidence Or Day of Reckoning Long Beach PAID EMPLOYEES: What are we paying you for ? Please tell me again; because it seems to many of your constituents that you’re taking the money and running. The floods of Jan.19-20-21-22.2010 are taking their toll. The flood stricken families are giving Long Beach Officials a big fat F- for its response in this latest flood event: Though the city was forewarned of the upcoming storms they failed to check storm drains and blamed a mattress for the flooding around the Wilson High School area. Yeah right. Last time Long Beach Officials blamed the failure of turning on the water pumps. (Sick of the lies). The chickens have not come home to roost yet as the cleanup has just begun. Mildew&mold are some the latest in the litany of perils we face. The high bacteria level though unseen is a constant reminder of the toxic soup we are STEWING IN. Long Beach the bill is climbing higher; this time we will not accept your smug , calloused reaction to our plights. Some of us who are not in the land of nod saw what you did / didn’t do. YOU DID SEND STREET SWEEPERS TO CLEAN UP THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. Oh, and thanks Long Beach for the 10 or so SHIPPING CONTAINERS to put our destroyed lives in. THANKS A LOT STINK BEACH. To all the TSUNAMI LEVEL DWELLERS who didn’t want the TERMINO DRAIN PROJECT in their neighborhoods�'we place much of the blame at your manicured DOORSTEPS. For all your huffing and puffing you only delayed the project (probably made it worse for yourselves, as we noticed the sound barriers walls and the culvert that sits at your feet;) for ten years. So please in the future keep your whining to yourselves. Dear Tsunami Zoners�'at any moment the ocean can and will rise up her back, turn over and then you will need OUR HELP. REMEMBER THIS

Joe Hunter
Kinda looks like Venice.

Dan Martin
Great shots, Samuel! I didn't realize how deep the water got down there. Bad typo there in Farmdogs comment, LOL! "...yes there were many idiots purposely SLASHING children on the sidewalk to see them fall down." Rough neighborhood!

Anonymous
Love these photos!!! I guess we're really having a winter?!

Capster
This time, at city, county and state levels, we tried to prepare, knowing this was a big one. Catch basins and drain areas had been thoroughly cleaned. What we weren't prepared for, and could not have been, was a rare instance of a massive amount of water coming down in a very short time that, coupled with the amount of debris each of us allows to be in our locale, and the stage was set. Huge amounts of every imaginable kind of debris flowed quickly to block watershed and drain entry point and cause flooding. In other cases, the system, even unclogged, couldn't take the volume of liquid during the peak of the downpour. As noted, the moment drains were reopened and/or rain stopped, the bulk of the water drained off rapidly. Could we size our drainage and runoff systems to handle the worst case "100 Year" storms? Sure, at a price tag that would be orders of magnitudes higher than we the taxpayers would ever likely approve. Can we fix the debris problem that provided the blockage materials? Sure, but not as long as we "the masses" point our fingers at government, any government, and expect "them" to fix it. "Them" is you and I, and until "I" (yes, that means YOU "I" too!) choose to be responsible for the state of debris in my environment, nothing will ever change. Never has. Never will. It literally starts with "I" bending down to pick up that bit of debris at the mouth of my driveway and tossing it on the bin. It takes me being aware in the first place, secondly becoming committed to changing what "is" if it isn't working, and being honest and open enough to share that commitment with the world around me and encourage people to do the same, and then leave it alone. Don't judge 'em, just be my word and that's enough. Just a thought. What we've been trying to do hasn't worked, and never could...as long as I blame others on the state I am in, I am guaranteed to fail at fixing it! Enjoy your day all, and join me in making Long Beach a city where storm drains don't get blocked with debris, and we all share the benefit of that every day until the next storm comes too. How bad is that? Ciao

There's a fire in my bel
Thanks for your support. We will continue to report the lies. The SHIPPING CONTAINERS were removed , filled to the brim with our sewer soaked lives, they replace the empties so we can fill them up too. So all in all there have been over ONE DOZEN SHIPPING CONTAINERS TO CONTAIN OUR RUINED STUFF, to date. You won't hear about the severity of the flooding on tv or online news. LONG BEACH IS SPENDING MONEY TO QUIET US. FINES < JAIL< WHATEVER it will take to expose these jackals and VOTE THEM OUT ! LONG BEACH IS CLAIMING THERE WAS A THREE MILLION DOLLAR LOSS. THE CARS ALONE COST OVER THREE MILLION ! LONG BEACH YOUR PANTS ARE ON FIRE

Ciao
Thanks for your support. We will continue to report the lies. The SHIPPING CONTAINERS were removed , filled to the brim with our sewer soaked lives, they replace the empties so we can fill them up too. So all in all there have been over ONE DOZEN SHIPPING CONTAINERS TO CONTAIN OUR RUINED STUFF, to date. You won't hear about the severity of the flooding on tv or online news. LONG BEACH IS SPENDING MONEY TO QUIET US. FINES < JAIL< WHATEVER it will take to expose these jackals and VOTE THEM OUT ! LONG BEACH IS CLAIMING THERE WAS A THREE MILLION DOLLAR LOSS. THE CARS ALONE COST OVER THREE MILLION ! LONG BEACH YOUR PANTS ARE ON FIRE

Pronto
Ciao

The Situation
G.T.L. baby

The Lippke View

Samuel Lippke is a photographer residing in Belmont Shore, shooting high-end events, fashion and international photojournalism. Samuel is constantly looking to shape and change peoples lives with each photo he takes.

Samuel has photographed for Volcom clothing company, HOWE, Lani, Lee Lacocca & The City of Long Beach. His images have appeared in the Press-Telegram & Grunion Gazette. He is published in wedding magazines & featured online. His international travels have been featured in books and in a documentary film (recent photo trips include Indonesia, Tokyo, Paris, London, Mexico City, Costa Rica, Philippines, South Africa and Cuba). Samuel is a WPJA member (Wedding PhotoJournalist Association) & is represented by ZUMA press.