Critical erosion issues facing New South Wales coastal communities have been further exposed as a low-pressure system sent powerful surf barrelling towards beachfront homes.
From the Hunter down to the Central Coast, 6-metre surf combined with a high tide to shave metres off beaches, inundate foreshores and damage infrastructure.
At Wamberal on the Central Coast, one beachfront resident would not go to the edge of his balcony for fear of it collapsing into the surf lapping below.
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the severity of coastal weather events had been increasing in the 40 years he had lived on the property.
"They seem to be getting progressively worse, in terms of beach erosion it seems to be getting worse and worse and worse," he said.
"I've never seen the waves come in, to this extent, even when the Pasha Bulker happened in 2007, it wasn't this bad."
Wamberal's erosion issues date back to a 1974 storm when houses along the foreshore toppled into the ocean.
A proposed seawall has been mired in a planning phase for over a decade, sparking frustration among residents.
Stockton Beach suffers more damage
Around 70km north, large waves over the past 48 hours have hammered Stockton Beach in Newcastle and worsened its ongoing erosion crisis.
Resident Lucas Gresham said, last night, water was washing up onto Mitchell Street, which runs parallel to the beach.
He said sandbagged areas had held up, but the surf had further eaten away at the shoreline.
"Unfortunately we've lost another couple of metres of beach," he said.
"Stockton seems to be shrinking quite rapidly, and about a metre of depth if not a little more.
"I was coming home from work last night and couldn't get along the beachfront."
A state task force is currently investigating the possibility of large-scale off-shore dredging to replenish the beach over decades, which would cost tens of millions of dollars.
"The beach has never been like this, and it's just getting worse, and it's disheartening to see what's going on in the place," said long-time resident Steve Stawski.
Jimmys Beach wiped away
North of Newcastle, another erosion hotspot at Hawks Nest has been severely impacted.
Now a huge sand cliff separates Jimmys Beach from the water.
"There's been an extensive amount of sand washed away with the storm, there's been quite a lot of damage there," said resident Steve Rees.
"So there's quite a vertical fall between the road and the beach."
Last year, the Mid Coast Council replenished the beach with sand when it commissioned its $4 million sand transfer pipeline, which runs the length of the beach.
A second replenishment program is scheduled in the coming months, and residents are now calling for it to be fast-tracked.
