Stockton wild weather: Conditions similar to June 2016 when surf club almost away
Residents are nervously awaiting the wild conditions and two-metre high tides expected to batter the coastline on Sunday, increasing the chances of further erosion.
Newcastle
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It’s a nervous time for Stockton Beach residents as predicted large swells and high ocean tides are forecast to batter the coastline.
With east coast low conditions and predicted two-metre high tides on Sunday, the likelihood of erosion has the potential to create dangerous conditions.
The weather conditions are looking similar to the June 2016 storm, where many beaches across Newcastle, including Stockton, lost up to 50 metres width in just a few days.
“In 2016, the swell was a lot bigger but a lot less prolonged,” Simon Jones, who runs the Save Stockton Beach Facebook page, said.
“They nearly lost the surf club in that event, so this is a similar direction just a smaller swell over a longer period and could cause that damage again.”
Newcastle Council will undertake reinforcement of the sand-bag wall at north Stockton near Griffith St and Stone St, using additional one-tonne sandbags.
“Basically sand-bagging is an emergency reaction to create a buffer between the road and the wave to stop any further recession. It’s not going to stop any further loss of sand off the beach,” Mr Jones said.
“It’s the swell we’re worried about, two-metre tides and big swell out from the north east, which we’re exposed to in the next four to five days.
“It has real potential to cause some damage, not just in that area but at the southern end of the beach area the surf club near the caravan park.”
The problem now is also the potential of a tropical cyclone formation in the Coral Sea early next week. That could track right down to Newcastle.
“If we get smashed over this current weather and the beach is in a pretty bad state, following up in a week after that it could be really dangerous,” Mr Jones added.
“While it might cause damage to the beach, it also has the potential to push a lot of sand from up north into that southern corner so maybe in the long term it might work in our favour.”
While Stockton residents await the weather fate, it is nothing they haven’t been through before.
“I think we’ve come to terms with that’s how it’s going to be until we get a decent solution implemented,” Mr Jones said.
“They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on bandaids and feel like you’re going nowhere.”
The Stockton Beach accessways along the Mitchell St seawall and the northern access at Stone St will be closed and the accessways at the Stockton Surf Life Saving Club and near Lexie’s Cafe will be monitored and may be closed subject to conditions.
The weather will also wreak havoc for weekend sport, with Newcastle Council decided to close all of its sportsgrounds, to be reassessed on Monday.