- A World War II battery bunker tumbled down a cliff onto a San Francisco beach, officials said Monday.
- It's the latest in a series of landslides across California, due to saturated ground.
- Record rain and floods have constantly belted the state since New Year's Eve.
A giant World War II-era military structure fell down a sandy cliff and onto a San Francisco beach.
The incident at Fort Funston, a city park with 200-foot oceanside bluffs, is the latest in a series of landslides across Northern California caused by a deluge of heavy rainstorms.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area reported the incident and shared a photo on Twitter on Monday.
"Beachcombers at Fort Funston will share the beach today with a WWII military structure undermined when saturated bluff sand slid onto the beach," the tweet said.
"Coastal agencies encourage visitors to exercise caution around post-storm saturated hillsides and coastal bluffs as they enjoy sunny days after weeks indoors," the post from Golden Gate National Recreation Area said.
A San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson told SFGATE that the building is a former battery bunker.
Aerial video footage from local news network ABC7 shows the bunker at the bottom of a sand slide down a tall cliff.
—ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 16, 2023
Since New Year's Eve, California has weathered a barrage of atmospheric rivers — long, narrow streams of water vapor traveling from the tropics, which can carry as much water as the average flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The record-setting storms and floods have led to a reported 19 deaths, as well as road closures, evacuations, power outages, sinkholes, and mudslides across the state. The deluge is finally forecast to end this week.
Still, the onslaught hasn't brought enough water to end the multi-year megadrought plaguing the state. Scientists expect both drought and flood extremes to become more severe in California as global temperatures rise, including powerful atmospheric rivers like these.