Storms 'trash' Southern California beaches

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Southern California beaches are littered with trash and litter deposited by the recent series of heavy storms that moved through the state, officials said.

Beaches covered in refuse are common after such storms, particularly those near river mouths, as rain and wind pulls garbage and debris into rivers that carry it to the sea, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

"It's awful," Los Alamitos, Calif., resident Tina Cassar said as she walked along the shore at Seal Beach. "It just shows what kind of pollution comes through the river system."

Seal Beach is near the mouth of the San Gabriel River, which begins 75 miles from the sea in the Angeles National Forest.

Trash also ends up in Long Beach, dumped by the Los Angeles River, which flows to the beach from the San Fernando Valley, the Times said.

"Unfortunately it's just the way things are, living in an urban place like this," Seal Beach lifeguard supervisor Tim Senneff said. "We get a lot of trash any time it rains, but especially with back-to-back storms."