Del Mar avoided the flooding and infrastructure damage that Tropical Storm Rachel inflicted on other California coastal cities Saturday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11.

The city said on its official X account Monday, Oct. 12, that the storm soaked Del Mar but spared it from the damage other communities experienced. Photos posted with the update showed wet streets but no visible structural harm.

The outcome followed weeks of preparation. The Del Mar City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 22 to declare a local emergency over heavy sedimentation in the San Dieguito Lagoon, citing flood risk to low-lying neighborhoods. That declaration directed staff to ask the Army Corps of Engineers to allow removal of up to 50,000 cubic yards of sand per dredge event, more than triple the existing 16,000-cubic-yard limit.

The city's storm plan called for staging sandbags at nearly three dozen flood-prone locations, blocking street ends with sand berms and placing barrier boards into seawall openings, according to a city preparedness alert. The plan also included lifeguards refreshing swift-water rescue training and the Fire Department preparing to add personnel for extreme wind conditions.

Neighboring Solana Beach also took precautions, making pre-filled sandbags available at City Hall at 635 S. Highway 101, with a limit of seven per household, according to a city notice.

Rachel made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, late Saturday before weakening into a post-tropical cyclone as it moved north. San Diego County recorded 0.9 inches of rain. Oceanside measured 1.4 inches. Palomar Mountain logged 3.99 inches, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. San Diego's strongest wind gust reached 36 mph.

Water levels at 10 a.m. Sunday came in about 5 inches below the potentially record-breaking high tides forecasters had warned about, according to the Chronicle.

Other communities were not as fortunate. In Long Beach, eight structures were red-tagged as unsafe for entry. In Carlsbad, high surf worsened Tamarack Beach's already crumbling coastline, with asphalt collapsing into the water, 10News reported. In Oceanside, the Strand was partially closed due to coastal flooding, and the Buena Vista Lagoon overflowed onto the roadway.

In Baja California, at least 10 people were reported missing and a young girl was killed in the storm's aftermath, according to Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar, as the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Orrison told the Union-Tribune Monday, Oct. 12: "We've seen the worst of what Rachel brought … but unfortunately we are looking at the disturbed weather still lingering."

Rachel's tropical storm watch was only the second on record for San Diego County. The first was issued ahead of Hurricane Hilary in August 2023. NOAA's Oct. 8 forecast put the chance of a strong-to-very-strong El Niño through the January-March 2027 period at greater than 83%.