Loíza hit by rare October swells as erosion barriers stay unbuilt
Swells stronger than any the mayor of Loíza said she had seen in October damaged several stretches of the town's coast, Metro Puerto Rico reported on October 29, 2026, as residents of Parcelas Suárez said the coastal protection promised to them in January has still not been built.
A coast hit out of season
In an interview the outlet reported, the mayor said that in nine years and ten months in office she had never seen swells like these in October. "In November, February, March we have strong swells, but not in October," she said. The heavy surf began the Thursday before the interview.
The damage reached La Pocita, Paseo de la Talega and the eroding shore up to Piñones, the outlet reported. Among the cases the municipality is handling is the home of a 91-year-old woman who refuses to leave despite the risk of collapse: a wall of an adjoining structure that supports the house has already given way. The municipality is working with the Housing Department to move her somewhere safe.
The PR-187 road was passable at the time of the interview, though the mayor could not say it would stay that way through the weekend. She also questioned why a permit she had requested from the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) was only granted on October 14, when she had been warning about the situation since December 2025.
Parcelas Suárez still waiting
Residents of Parcelas Suárez said the same day that they still lack the protection the agency promised, the outlet reported in a second article. In January the agency's secretary announced sand-filled geotextile structures to slow the erosion; the materials were bought, but the work never began. In July the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered a halt to some dredging work and required a permit to install the structures.
The community board blamed the agency, the municipality and the Army Corps for a lack of coordination. It asked the agency to clarify the status of the project, the Army Corps to hand over its full file and the municipality to disclose what it knows about the permits. The permit granted on October 14 covers a municipal intervention and is separate from the federal process the residents questioned, the outlet noted.
The homes on the shoreline
In Loíza, 247 properties sit within 100 meters of the shoreline. Of those, 109 lie at least partly in a FEMA special flood hazard area, and 59 at least partly in zone VE, the coastal high-hazard zone where flooding comes with breaking waves. Property there rarely changes hands: one sale was recorded on those 247 properties between November 2025 and October 2026.
