High surf raises Pacifica Pier concerns

Pacifica bracing for the high surf. His crews raced to stabilize the city's iconic pier, which is still closed indefinitely due to damage from strong waves earlier this year. Live coverage now from KTVU's Tom Vacar on how the city is preparing. Tom? Well, it's a stabilizing event, but it's only temporary in the hopes of keeping this thing up and stable for the next period of time, which is unknown. But the biggest test is very likely to come in the next one to five days. Big waves near the Pacifica Municipal Pier have been a draw for more than a half century. This is crazy. I can't believe this. This year just seems like more extreme. So I think it's climate change. It's amazing looking at them already, just to think that there'd be something even bigger It's nothing I've experienced in my lifetime and I've been coming here for many years because I enjoy the ocean, I enjoy watching waves and surfers. It could be truly catastrophic. The wave sets that are coming in right now are often hitting the bottom of the walkway. But given the ones that are coming Friday evening and beyond, these could be relative pipsqueaks. The giant crane towering over the Pacifica Municipal Pier is not here for a permanent fix. The pier closed indefinitely five months ago. This crane will be central to the $6 million emergency stabilization of it. It is solely to prevent the damaged pier from collapsing during the coming winter storms, high waves, and pounding surf. Tomorrow they'll probably be breaking over the top of the pier, and I just like coming down watching them. A collapse would likely take out Beach Boulevard and wastewater pipes buried under that roadway. From Friday evening through early Saturday morning, 25 to 35-foot waves are forecast to slam the area coastline. Destructive waves will continue into next week. I was here when they built it. And I don't think this pier is worth saving, it's worth rebuilding. And not build it out of concrete, if it's still standing by the end of winter, I'll be surprised. A full replacement could cost upwards of $150 million. And that's why local officials are lobbying state and federal governments for long-term assistance. To have the pier back and bring in the tourists, bring in the fishermen, and people crabbing off the pier, it does drive business for the area. Without it? I think it would drastically change, I think it would have a big change, and probably not for the better. Now, so that you know, the power of erosion, waves, and sea level rise, the Farallon Islands, 29 miles away, 10,000 to 18,000 years ago, were a part of the mainland until a previous sea level rising situation, waves, and erosion left them high and dry. 29 miles away. Reporting live, Tom Vacar, KTVU Fox 2 News. Tom, since we have you, let me just ask you about the current conditions with the storm, you know, just a few hours away. Has it gotten worse out there over the last few hours? The wind has picked up significantly. It's relatively a mild temperature here, but the wind has picked up significantly. And what happens is that these wave sets come in, and they're pretty calm for a while, and then a few big ones hit. And we've had a couple where the spray has actually come up to the surface that we're on right here, and we're quite a few feet above the water. It's starting to rock and roll, if that's what you're asking. All right. We'll let you get out of there, jump in the van, and go home. Tom Vacar, live tonight at Pacifica. Tom, thank you.