Wamberal Beach, NSW erosion: Beach homes ‘partially collapse’
There are reports several homes on the NSW Central Coast have now partially given way after giant waves ate away at the beach this week.
A local news outlet has reported several beachside homes on the NSW Central Coast have begun to collapse into the ocean following days of destructive waves and beach erosion.
A number of residences on Ocean View Drive at Wamberal have been at risk since Thursday as a result of wild weather.
However, on Friday night NBN News reported on Facebook that residents had claimed “at least two homes have partially collapsed” and were “falling into the sea”.
NSW State Emergency Service is on the scene and police officers have been going door to door to advise residents to leave, although some have chosen to remain in their homes.
According to ABC Central Coast, the collapse occurred during high tide this evening, and engineers will continue to assess the area overnight.
The battering shows no signs of letting up with a hazardous surf warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Friday until midnight on Saturday from the state’s north to south.
It applies to the Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast.
RELATED: NSW beaches thrashed by monster 11.5m wave
Emergency services were called on Thursday night to Ocean View Drive at Wamberal “to attend to homes at significant risk of structural collapse due to breach erosion”, Terrigal Fire Station said on Facebook.
They were joined by the SES unit from Gosford.
The NSW Central Coast Incident Alerts, News & Information page on Facebook said emergency services were “assisting residents with coastal erosion from the large powerful swell that is hammering the coastline”.
“It’s believed a crane is on site putting in place large concrete blocks to try to slow the damage to residents along the stretch of coastline,” the post reads.
“Expect delays in the area. Earlier reports were of possible structural collapse and damage to some affected residents.”
The post was flooded with hundreds of comments from locals saying it reminded them of the mid-1970s when storms chewed up Wamberal Beach.
One woman said the weather “decimated homes” while another recalled being there when “the houses went into the ocean”.
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Coastal researcher Mitchell Harley, from the University of New South Wales, said they were warned four days ago about “major erosion at Wamberal”.
“This morning houses are teetering on the edge,” he said on Twitter on Friday.
“It’s like watching a disaster movie in slow-mo.”
4 days ago we were warning about major erosion at Wamberal. This morning houses are teetering on the edge. Its like watching a disaster movie in slow-mo. Time to bring coastal management into the 21st century https://t.co/nP5D5tkTPV https://t.co/pj2foLhTF1
— Mitchell Harley (@DocHarleyMD) July 17, 2020
More vision of the erosion happening now at Wamberal Beach @nbnnews pic.twitter.com/ndAwHRpHFX
— David Thomas Moore (@PopcornDave89) July 16, 2020
A beachfront resident told the ABC he feared his balcony would collapse into the surf below.
“They seem to be getting progressively worse, in terms of beach erosion it seems to be getting worse and worse and worse,” the Wamberal local said.
“I’ve never seen the waves come in, to this extent, even when the Pasha Bulker (coal ship) happened in 2007, it wasn’t this bad.”
#Wamberal homes in real danger of collapse this morning after significant erosion in the last 48hrs. Resident Margaret Brice tells #ABCCentralCoast "this really is a disaster situation, residents are losing hope." Erosion issues date back to 1974. pic.twitter.com/cu8Bdapwxl
— Jake Lapham (@JakeLapham) July 16, 2020
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