NOT since the great Sygna storm of 1974 has Warren Smith seen erosion like this.
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Where once there was sand now there are large rocks, piles of debris and concrete jutting out of the coastline.
A constant stream of big swells has battered the city’s beaches over the past few weeks, exposing pipes and bits of rotten wood not seen for decades.
Smith spent nearly 40 years as a lifeguard on Newcastle beaches until retiring last year and remembers the devastation massive swells left during the Sygna storm.
And he said, just like in 1974, the beaches will recover. In time. The damage has been mostly concentrated between Bar Beach and Dixon Park, but Smith said Susan Gilmore was the worst affected.
‘‘Susan Gilmore has got no sand left at all,’’ Smith said.
‘‘The consistent big swells has just eroded it away and it hasn’t had time to repair, that’s the main problem.
‘‘Nobbys is really the only beach in the city that hasn’t lost a lot of sand and that’s only because it has been transferred from one end to the other.
‘‘There have been pockets of rocks exposed during different swells and storms over the years, but not this much of the Newcastle coastline. We’ve got rocks and pipes exposed that we haven’t seen for a long time.’’
Smith warned beach goers to be careful on the sand and in the water while the beach was recovering.
The long-time coordinator of Surfest, Smith remembers the massive storm on May 26, 1974, for its ferocity.
‘‘I remember a lot of foam and no sand on the beaches at all,’’ he said.
‘‘There were cars getting washed away near the Cowrie Hole. ‘‘The immense swell just destroyed all the beaches, but they recovered. We just need the seas to abate for a while and the beaches should be OK.’’
A Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said crews were monitoring the situation and had investigated whether the storms had caused any damage to facilities. There are no plans for repair work.
