LOS ANGELES — President Barack Obama has made federal disaster aid available to California communities that suffered damage in the March tsunami.

The tsunami caused an estimated $50 million damage, with the harbors in Santa Cruz and Crescent City being hardest hit.

In Santa Barbara, fierce waves turned the harbor into a tidal pool, sweeping away a barge that was used for the city’s commercial fishing operation and nearly destroying a 200-ton crane barge that became unmoored in the tumult. In Ventura, a city sailing dock broke off and at least one boat was lost at sea, authorities said. In Morro Bay, a dock came loose in the waves.

California has already declared a disaster in several coastal counties, and the federal aid would come in addition to that.

“”Federal funding is available to the state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the tsunami wave surge in Del Norte and Santa Cruz counties,”” the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.