bay area weather

Capitola Wharf repairs on pause due to Bay Area storm

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Wet weather this week has temporarily halted repairs at the Capitola Wharf.

The beach town was hit hard during devastating atmospheric river storms in January, which left the downtown area flooded and the wharf snapped in half.

It took Capitola months to get repair work started on the wharf. Crews on Wednesday were scrambling to get as much work and materials in as they could.

The January storms broke the wharf in two sections and the city spent a long time planning and getting the permits needed for the $7 million rebuild -- so actual construction did not start until around September.

Locals lament just how much was lost.

"The pier was just being renovated and redone," resident Rodger Shaheen said. "So hopefully it doesn't destroy it again this year."

What seems to be keeping optimism up is the town's well-known esplanade section has, for the most part, been restored so businesses can resume operations.

Visitors who came down to the wharf on Wednesday were impressed by the progress.

But the rainfall coming down this week now has dampened that enthusiasm a little bit.

"I think there's always a concern because Mother Nature comes by and you don't know what you're going to get," Shaheen said. "But, so far, I think we welcome the rain. We just don't want the huge storms that crash down."

Workers said they will evaluate just how much trouble the storm causes before deciding when to resume repairs on the wharf.

Overall, crews said they are happy with their progress and still expect the wharf to reopen by this summer.

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