Parts of California are bracing for the weather impact of Hurricane Hilary as it continues to intensify over the Pacific Ocean.
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00:00 Well, today, parts of California are bracing for the weather impact of Hurricane Hillary
00:04 as it continues to intensify over the Pacific Ocean.
00:08 Michelle Gille has more.
00:12 Tons of rocks and sand has been moved higher on North Beach in San Clemente as Hurricane
00:17 Hillary makes its approach towards Southern California.
00:21 A public works crew built a small berm along this South Orange County stretch of coastline
00:28 to protect lifeguard towers and other buildings like restrooms in anticipation of high tides
00:34 and big surf crashing on the beach.
00:37 Anytime you have a swell push up from the south, it's going to be big.
00:41 And sometimes that doesn't mean it's going to be really good shape.
00:45 It just means it's going to be big.
00:47 Officials are monitoring predicted rainfall, especially in the neighborhoods where landslides
00:52 occurred.
00:53 On Friday, at San Clemente's cultural center Casa Romantica, workers will spread plastic
00:58 and place sandbags on the slope that has slid twice recently.
01:04 For the next few days, all eyes will be on the rail lines that hug the coast.
01:10 Service has been suspended several times this year through San Clemente due to falling rocks
01:15 and debris.
01:16 Crews have been working to replenish Capistrano Beach with sand from the Santa Ana River bottom.
01:22 The hope is that we don't get monster surf from Hurricane Hillary that takes this sand
01:27 away.
01:28 That stretch of the coastline has been starved of sand for decades.
01:33 It's now trying to survive with very little sand in the system.
01:37 So the efforts that we're taking to put more sand in are going to be good for that whole
01:41 stretch of the coastline.
01:42 But we need to do more to restore it to a natural state.
01:46 Professor Sanders says Hurricane Hillary could create runoff that eventually pulls
01:50 sand toward the coast, but it will take many years to build back our beaches that have
01:55 seen decades of erosion.
01:57 In Capistrano Beach, Michele Gili, KCAL News.
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