Southern California beaches prepare for potential flooding

Crews prepared Long Beach and the nearby coastal areas for potential floods expected to arrive on Southern California shores on Wednesday night. 

To fight against the high surf and tides, front loaders and dump trucks ferried tons of sand to build a protective berm.

"The city is usually really on top of this," Long Beach resident Jason Kravetz said. "The city will set up a command post down the street, and they are constantly running the tractors back and forth, so if it breaches the berm and there's a hole in it, the backhoes are out here right away."

Last year's storms sent water into some garages along the oceanfront boardwalk. Large waves crashed over the sand berm impacting some beachfront properties. The strong swells damaged parts of the wooden boardwalk near 64th Place. 

This time around, heavy equipment operators spent a lot of time reinforcing the berm near the lifeguard station at the mouth of Alamitos Bay. They hope to protect the building and keep the parking lots around it from turning into small lakes.

Residents can grab sandbags in the beach parking lot at the end of the Long Beach peninsula. 

In addition to the LA County city, Orange County towns like Newport Beach and Huntington Beach are expected to get huge waves along their coastlines.