Relentless storms caused by the El Niño weather pattern in 2015-16 battered the Pacifica coastline (pictured), leaving a number of houses and apartment buildings perched perilously close to the cliff edge. Residents had to be evacuated, with some properties deemed uninhabitable, and many condemned buildings were demolished.

In May 2025 the California Coastal Commission ruled that Pacifica can continue using old seawalls as a stopgap while it develops a long-term strategy to deal with the sea level rise. But environmental groups think this could ultimately make it more difficult to protect the coastline as seawalls can cause the beaches below to erode and exacerbate flooding.

Then and now: Shocking photos of coastal erosion around the world