Crews working on the beach and parking lots to pick up piles of driftwood from the recent storm

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Harbor West Parking lot and Leadbetter Beach are getting a focused effort where drift wood and debris have come ashore in the recent storm.

High tides and ocean surge sent the material, along with seaweed and ice plants, all over the area.

Fortunately, the picnic areas at Leadbetter did not get wiped out. That location was just restored.

Two MarBorg dumpsters are full of material picked up by heavy equipment between the Shoreline Cafe and Shoreline Park. Some of the logs and large items like telephone poles had to be cut up with a chainsaw first. That work was done Wednesday.

The Santa Barbara Waterfront Department and Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department share some of the areas, and both have the "to-do" list after every storm to get the beach area back in shape as fast as possible.

Early this morning, West Beach was groomed and it turned the mulch and ocean leftovers into a much more picturesque beach. At Leadbetter, some people were already laying in the sun and a few were swimming. A couple of people with metal detectors were out looking for treasures that often include rings, coins, watches or necklaces.

One local hotel worker was on a break and took a quick dip in the water, saying it was rejuvenating.

The parking lot between the bathrooms and the boatyard was impacted hard. A new wall of sand was being built up by a heavy equipment operator. That sand berm has proven to be protected, but in major storms at the highest tides, it often gets wiped out.

(More details, photos and video will be added here later today.)