Stockton residents were bracing for another low pressure battering Monday afternoon as a 2-3.5 metre swell chewed into the suburb's erosion hotspots.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The swell was expected to peak offshore at 5.4 metres at 4pm.
Sandbagging installed at Barrie Crescent held the mid-afternoon high tide at bay, while nervous residents and council crews looked on.
"It's definitely picked up in the past couple of hours," one Mitchell St resident said.
While not as exposed, the southern end of the beach continued to be eaten away in front of the caravan park.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said staff and contractors had worked around the clock to protect the suburb.
"City of Newcastle has had two sand hopper trucks, multiple excavators, cranes and other machinery operating in Stockton since last week's weather event carrying out a range of maintenance and repair works," she said.
"We have undertaken significant sandbagging works reinforcing existing sandbags and replacing those that were compromised. One location that experienced significant erosion during the last east coast low was at the end of Griffiths Street and we have replaced a number of sandbags in that location.
"We have also moved brick rubble that was previously washed onto the beach back closer to the bank and used some of it to reinforce one of the structures at the northern end of the Surf Life Saving Club."
Further north MidCoast Council said more erosion was expected at Jimmys Beach in coming days.
"Although sand has been moved onto the most critical part of the beach since last week's storm, there has not been enough time between events to restore the full sand buffer," the council's coastal management coordinator Andrew Staniland said.
"Building a sand buffer on the beach during a severe weather event is impossible and pointless."
Houses at Wamberal on the Central Coast, already vulnerable after a similar erosion event two weeks ago, received another battering on Monday.
Residents watched on nervously as crews piled up about 150 rock-filled bags to stop the erosion.
A severe weather warning for damaging winds and surf and heavy rain for a large section of coastal NSW also remains in place.
"Beach could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed areas," the Bureau of Meteorology warned.
The low pressure system is expected to move away late on Tuesday.