Latest news with #highTides
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
‘No end of problems' for Australia's south-east coastlines as strong winds and large waves hit again
Abnormally high tides, strong winds and large waves have lashed Australia's south-eastern coastlines this week, damaging jetties and infrastructure in communities facing 'no end of problems' from an increase in severe conditions. Prolonged winds whipped up large waves in the Southern Ocean, which have hammered south and west facing coastlines across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, said the senior meteorologist Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology. 'If the wind pushes in the same direction for a long time … it actually starts to push the water against the country, and that can cause tidal levels to rise above where they would normally be,' he said. Those winds, combined with a low-pressure system and the alignment of the sun and the moon – the gravitational pull of which causes tides to rise and fall – have led to higher than normal tides in several locations. On Tuesday, tides in Outer Harbour, north of Port Adelaide, were about 65cm above the highest astronomical tide (a measure of the typical high-tide mark for the month, without additional weather effects). In Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, tides were recorded approximately 40cm above the high-tide mark, and 30cm higher in Gippsland in the east of the state. Tides were expected to be even higher in Victoria on Wednesday afternoon, Hines said. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter Conditions were expected to ease by Thursday but there could be rough oceans across parts of coastal New South Wales over coming days, with the SES issuing a warning for damaging winds in south-eastern areas including Sydney Harbour, the Illawarra and Wollongong. In the 24 hours to Wednesday afternoon, councils across South Australia's coastline reported further damage to jetties, boat-launching facilities, shopfronts and foreshore infrastructure, as well as significant sand loss, said Adam Gray, the executive officer for the SA Coastal Councils Alliance. 'A number of councils are telling me that their jetties have structurally failed,' he said. Gray said it was the second such event to hit the state's coastline in a month, after a major tidal surge and low-pressure system dealt significant damage on 26 and 27 May. Councils were accelerating their coastal hazard adaptation planning in response, he said, and seeking greater support from the federal government to help cope with escalating risks due to storms and sea-level rise. 'We know that councils and their communities are seeing increasing frequency of inundation and erosion events, and an accumulation of erosion, which is causing them no end of problems as far as asset management,' Gray said. A series of storm fronts in recent weeks progressively weakened the jetty at Normanville beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula, said Rhett Day, the operations manager at the beach's Aqua Blue restaurant and kiosk. The storm and king tide in late May loosened the sleepers and made the jetty unsafe, before another event in early June 'bashed it a bit', he said. Then on Tuesday, a seaward section about 10 metres long collapsed completely into the water, leaving 'just a couple of pylons sticking out on their lonesome'. Jetties at Kingston and Robe on the Limestone Coast were also damaged. Climate change is causing rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storms, which are exacerbating coastal hazards such as inundation and erosion.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Victorian coastal towns warned of flooding as abnormally high tides forecast
Coastal towns across Victoria are bracing for possible flooding as abnormally high tides threaten to inundate low-lying areas. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting tides "well above" the normal high tide mark on Monday and Tuesday, along with damaging winds. Authorities said tides would rise during the afternoons and evenings, with the highest tides forecast to hit on Tuesday. BOM meteorologist Belinda House said the ocean surge was being driven by strong coastal winds and a strong low-pressure system. "We have got so much wind and a strong low pressure system pushing in, so it is going to be elevating those tides," she said. Ms House said south-westerly winds forecast would likely push water on shore on Tuesday. Warnings are in place for East, West and South Gippsland, South West, and Central forecast districts. Tides are forecast to reach 1.6 metres above the the Australian Height Datum (AHD) at Cape Portland, and 0.9m at the Lakes Entrance tide gauge. The State Emergency Service (SES) is preparing for wild weather, with sandbag stations opening in flood-prone areas. In Gippsland, volunteers will man sandbag filling collection points in Lakes Entrance and Manns Beach from 11am. SES volunteer Kate Turner said the service was on stand-by. "We will ask people to take only what they need to ensure their is enough for the community," she said. "Sandbags and shovels will be provided but if residents could bring their own gloves and transport their own sandbag." In south-west Victoria, SES crews have been on alert since Thursday. South West Region operations manager for unit support Steve McDowell urged residents to remain vigilant. "We're asking drivers to drive to the conditions if the wind does pick up later today … slow down, as trees will come down unexpectedly," he said. Crews are monitoring vulnerable coastal areas including south Warrnambool, Port Fairy and near Portland. "It just depends how high this tide is when it comes in," he said. Mr McDowell said crews were ready to prepare sandbags as needed. University of Melbourne coastal geomorphologist David Kennedy said storms and high tides had coincided. "That's the really big problem … it's getting up to the highest tides we actually experience," Professor Kennedy told ABC Victoria Statewide Mornings. "We've then got the storm surge, the waves, the wind … and then you've got the low water pressure system sucking the [ocean] water up underneath, that can add sometimes a metre on top [of a high tide]. Professor Kennedy said the weather would likely result in coastal erosion. "You hope the big storm doesn't happen with the big tides, but it's bound to coincide," he said.
