Latest news with #Wamberal

Wind and surf warnings remain as wild weather starts easing in NSW

SBS Australia

03-07-2025

Climate
SBS Australia

Wind and surf warnings remain as wild weather starts easing in NSW

After causing wild weather in NSW this week, a weakening low-pressure system is now drifting north off the state's coast, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). "A series of low-pressure systems remain in the Tasman Sea. A secondary low that was moving northwards just offshore from the NSW coast has begun to weaken," BoM said in a statement on Thursday morning. "Winds are expected to ease about the high terrain in the north of the state later during the morning." The NSW State Emergency Services (SES) still has 32 warnings in place across the state, maintaining its orders from earlier this week for people in Wamberal and North Entrance to evacuate. 'Strong to damaging' winds According to the BoM, severe weather no longer affects the Hunter, metropolitan, Illawarra, and south coast districts, and the warning for these areas has been cancelled. But "strong to damaging" winds averaging 55 to 65km/h, with peak gusts of about 100km/h, are still likely in parts of the Northern Tablelands, the mid-north coast hinterland, and around the Border Ranges, and are expected to ease later on Thursday morning. Locations which may be affected include eastern metropolitan Sydney, Wollongong, Ulladulla, and Tenterfield. Six-metre-high waves In another statement, BoM has warned about damaging surf conditions for coastlines between Seal Rocks and the NSW-Victorian border. "These conditions are expected to begin easing during the day. Initially for southern coastlines, later during Thursday morning, and may ease throughout the warning area by late Thursday afternoon," it said. Waves with heights exceeding six metres have been observed in some of these areas. Severe warning for Lord Howe Island The bureau has also issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds for Lord Howe Island, 600km east of Port Macquarie. A complex low-pressure system "is bringing notably windy conditions and elevated seas to Lord Howe Island today", according to BoM. SES has advised people on the island to: Keep clear of fallen power lines. Stay indoors, away from windows, and keep children indoors. Check your property regularly for erosion or inundation by sea water, and if necessary, raise goods and electrical items. Stay out of the water and stay well away from surf-exposed areas. Warragamba Dam starts to spill WaterNSW has reported that the Warragamba Dam, located about 65km west of Sydney, started to spill last night. It has been predicted the peak outflows will reach approximately 60 gigalitres per day. WaterNSW said: "If you are downstream of the dam, stay away from fast flowing or deep water and never drive, ride or walk through floodwater."

Anger on Central Coast as beach erosion work begins during wild east coast low

ABC News

02-07-2025

Climate
ABC News

Anger on Central Coast as beach erosion work begins during wild east coast low

New South Wales Central Coast residents who fear their beachfront homes are on the brink of collapse are frustrated that it has taken a severe weather event for emergency work to be carried out. Sand was delivered to Wamberal Beach on Tuesday to help mitigate the impacts of raging seas, but locals have claimed it was quickly washed away. Council workers placed large bags of rocks along the beachfront on Wednesday morning but resident Lisa Kolinac described the lack of preventative action as a type of "slow, consistent torture". "We've had erosion happening every day here for eight weeks, so all of these residents are sitting in their houses overnight wondering what they're going to wake up to in the morning," she said. Dozens of people were told to leave their homes on Tuesday as a precaution. In 2020 Wamberal Beach was hammered by violent swell and some homes partially collapsed. Ms Kolinac said residents formally appealed to the Central Coast Council seven or eight months ago to take steps to arrest the worsening erosion. "We're now just seeing a few rock bags and a bit of sand pushed on the beach," she said. Ms Kolinac also called for an urgent meeting with Premier Chris Minns to discuss the delay in action and expedite a response. Several residents vented their frustration at a media conference held by council representatives on Wednesday. Chief executive David Farmer said placing rocks on the beach was an attempt to address the issue in the short-term. "This is happening due to an emergency situation and this emergency will abate," he said. "What we need to do is have a medium-term and a long-term fix. "[Reconstruction work] is a medium-term fix, but we need to work towards a long-term fix with the government and the land owners so that we're not coming back again and again. "This is an intolerable situation — it is cost on the rate payers, it's obviously stress for the land, for the property owners. It's a very, very difficult situation. Central Coast Mayor Lawrie McKinna acknowledged the situation was frustrating but said the works required state government approval. "This is the first time we've actually been allowed to place rocks on the beach — because its an emergency situation, that's why they're on here now," he said. "We're working with state government to get a solution here. "It's going back and forward and that's where the frustration is coming [from], because it's taking a while." A coastal management plan has been approved for public consultation and it is hoped the government will authorise it by the end of the year. In a statement a NSW government spokesperson told the ABC it a scope of works for protective measures for The Entrance North had been received, but it was waiting for such an outline for Wamberal. Mr Farmer said those plans were "with the residents at the moment" for review and would be submitted to the government once council secured local agreement. The government spokesperson said financial and technical support had been provided to the council in the development of the coastal management program. "These programs identify coastal management issues and actions required to address these issues in a strategic and integrated way," they said. "We used the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act to declare Wamberal and The Entrance North as a reconstruction area so that council could move quickly. "They've sent us the proposed scope of works for The Entrance North and we now eagerly await their proposed scope of works for Wamberal."

Central Coast residents asked to leave beachside homes amid erosion fears

ABC News

01-07-2025

Climate
ABC News

Central Coast residents asked to leave beachside homes amid erosion fears

Beachfront property owners have been told to leave their homes due to the threat of a wild weather system, while residents claim authorities' efforts to protect their homes have been ineffective. Heavy rain and winds from an intense east coast low is lashing large parts of the NSW coast and generating powerful surf. Volunteers from the NSW State Emergency Service have been doorknocking homes in Wamberal and North Entrance on the NSW Central Coast and asking residents to leave. Wamberal Beach was thrashed by storms in July 2020, leaving some houses teetering on the brink of collapse. Five years almost to the day, the same erosion problems remain with no clear solution in place. Central Coast Council started emergency protection works on Tuesday morning, using large machinery to excavate sand and reinforce dunes in the vicinity of a handful of properties deemed at particular risk. But the rising tide combined with powerful surf has already stripped much of that away. Frustrated homeowners, including Warrern Hughes, likened the conditions to 2020. Mr Hughes said the council's latest action was "insane" and should have happened much sooner. "Ironically, they turned up on the day of the east coast low," he said. "We've got 10 foot waves out the front. "The absurd correction works they were doing, it's just insane to watch. "They move along the beach, a wave comes in and removes the sand." Residents have for weeks been calling for urgent action to address coastal erosion at the beach. Their pleas became more desperate in recent days with forecasts of this week's wild weather. In a letter to the council on Monday, they said they feared the predicted conditions could be "catastrophic" for homes and public infrastructure. The council's preliminary estimate of the cost of building a seawall in 2022 was up to $40 million, with impacted residents expected to foot most of the bill. Homeowner Chris Rogers acknowledged there was community opposition to ad-hoc property protection works but defended residents' need for immediate action "when you've got two metres left before the bank drops away to your doorstep". "It's extremely frightening for people," he said. NSW Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris, acknowledged residents' frustrations but said legal processes had to be followed. New legislation in the pipeline has been designed to "speed up the normal processes" but Mr Harris said residents would always be required to submit a development application including an environmental impact statement. "Any work that's done, can't have an adverse impact on the rest of the environment," he said. The state government is involved in longer-term coastal erosion solutions, while the council and other emergency services work together on immediate protective measures. Those measures have been delayed because Central Coast Council has not yet finalised its Coastal Management Plan. On the NSW South Coast, Surfside resident Craig Lyttle said his house was battered every time there was a large swell event. He said while he had been sandbagging in preparation, he still felt vulnerable. "We live in fear every east coast low that is predicted," he said Mr Lyttle said state and local governments had not done enough to address coastal erosion. "This sand dune was built to protect the suburb of Surfside when the suburb was developed," he said. "Now it's been reduced to nothing and we have no protection from the ocean and this is what happens." Mr Lyttle said he used sand that washed into his yard during a storm surge earlier in the year to create a makeshift barrier. "We probably had about 30 cubic metres of sand wash in, so we were able to hire a bobcat and the fellow did a wonderful job," he said. "But we need a hard stand or a rock wall or something to protect our houses." With the storm tracking further south and expected to bring hazardous surf and waves up to 10 metres, he has already sandbagged part of his property. "We've sandbagged the back of the house, they are ones SES left here last time and we've got them at the back of our house," he said.