Ocean Beach flooding might hit S.F.’s Great Highway this winter amid El Niño – San Francisco Chronicle

Ocean Beach flooding might hit S.F.’s Great Highway this winter amid El Niño  San Francisco Chronicle

High tides expected to reach record levels in San Francisco this winter could bring seawater all the way up to the Great Highway, a city official said Thursday. Ocean Beach is among waterfront spots in the city expected to flood this winter as an exceptionally strong El Niño will bring record tides to the Bay Area. “We have heard very clearly from the National Weather Service that they would expect the water to reach all the way to the seawall up to where the Great Highway is this winter,” Mary Ellen Carroll, the director of the city’s Department of Emergency Management, told members of the Board of Supervisors during a hearing on El Niño preparedness.

Carroll also said the National Park Service could shutter the beach at some point this winter, but an NPS spokesperson told the Chronicle the agency has no plans to close the area. “The Golden Gate National Recreation Area superintendent may close portions of the park — including Ocean Beach — for safety reasons, but closure of Ocean Beach is impractical due to its large size and many access points,” Joshua Winchell, an NPS spokesperson, told the Chronicle in an email. “Ocean Beach has not previously been closed for high tides, storms, or other weather-related events.” San Francisco has already seen its highest-ever October tides this