Emergency officials urge people to avoid the beach as large waves return to SoCal on Saturday

The high surf that pummeled the Southern California coast this week took a breather on Friday but officials warned people to avoid the beach as another round of strong waves is expected to hit the region this weekend.

All beaches and coastal parks in hard-hit Ventura County were closed Friday and will remain closed over the New Year’s weekend, including the Ventura Pier, seaside campgrounds and harbor entries, officials said.

A series of strong waves pummeled the Ventura coast on Thursday, sending onlookers scrambling as the waves swept past seaside barriers and barreled down city streets. At least eight people were injured and several businesses were damaged as the waves broke windows and flooded buildings.

Public works crews were scrambling Friday to build a mile-long, 7-foot high berm between the shoreline and the community of Pierpont in the city of Ventura after the massive waves jumped over the sea wall, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The Pierpont Inn remained closed Friday after water broke multiple windows at the hotel and flooded the property, according to officials.

Ventura County firefighters have rescued multiple people over the last 24 hours from life-threatening rip currents along the shoreline and flooding in coastal communities, officials said. All beaches in the city of Oxnard were closed Friday and will remain closed over the New Year’s weekend.

The Central Coast, which stretches from Ventura County to Monterey Bay south of San Francisco, is expected to see 15- to 25-foot waves this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Santa Barbara’s south coast and Los Angeles County’s coast could see 7- to 12-foot waves, with some 15- to 20-foot waves near Point Conception and Hermosa, Manhattan and Palos Verdes Peninsula beaches.

Residents should avoid the urge to stand on beach-side rocks and jetties, according to emergency officials.

A high surf warning is in effect until 10 p.m. on Saturday for the Central Coast and Ventura County, thanks in part to powerful cyclones spinning over the Pacific Ocean, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s been a dangerous time recently for those going to the beach and going to the coastline,” meteorologist David Sweet with the National Weather Service in Oxnard said. “At this current time, we’d recommend people stay away.”

A new storm is expected to arrive in Southern California by Friday evening, bringing heavy showers to Los Angeles County on Saturday, according to forecasts. Storm runoff and coastal erosion will still be a factor for seaside communities and beaches, Sweet said.

The public is warned to stay out of the dirty water.

A scheduled sediment removal operation in Marina del Rey’s harbor has been delayed due to the storm, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced. The operation would have removed about a hundred Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of sediment, but the operation will resume at a later date.