Erosion at Budgewoi and Lakes beaches on the Central Coast caused by big swells and sea level rise

The dunes have been eaten away, with millions of tonnes of sand eroded.

University of Newcastle Associate Professor Iftekhar Ahmed, a climate change adaptation expert, said "the sea level is rising".

"It's an inescapable fact. The icebergs are melting," A/Prof Ahmed said.

With the rising seas and stormy weather, currents and waves also rise.

"There's also a scouring action of water under the soil and salinity intrusion. So the saline water starts going inland. It infiltrates and bloats it, weakening the soil structure from underneath," he said.

"It's a slow process. It's been happening for quite a long time now. This has already weakened the soil. So if there's impact by waves, it crumbles and falls off."

He said many things had been tried to deal with similar problems at other beaches.

This included "polypropylene or geo-textile bags that are stretchable".

"They fill them with sand. They're not regular sandbags, they're somewhat better. They can expand and contract and take a bit of the loading. It's an expensive solution and certainly not a long-term solution.

"You can buy time with sandbags and rocks. But the scouring movement and saline water intrusion will eventually tell.

"The long-term solution is to retreat. That's the only thing unfortunately."

There are no houses built along Lakes and Budgewoi beaches, but a main road is about 50 to 100 metres from the dunes at the closest points to the beach.

It could be threatened in the future, as the sea continues to rise.

A/Prof Ahmed said low-lying parts of the road could face flooding in future, but "in the immediate term, it's not an issue".

Climate change leading to regular weather conditions "such as the current lows and depressions, combined with sea level rise, could eventually make the retreat necessary over the long-term".

Lakes Beach Surf Club life member Greg Bolton swims and walks at the beach almost every day. He's been living in the area for 74 years and had never seen such bad erosion.

"We've had water up to the steps of the surf club before, but we haven't had this much cut away. I suppose it's the storms and global warming. It comes and goes. It'll take a long time to replenish itself here. Millions of tonnes of sand are gone," he said.

The surf club is about 25 to 30 metres from the start of the beach, but he said the erosion would have to "come a long way" for the club to be lost.

The relentless rain is bringing out all sorts of creepy crawlies into people's houses.

"Have you heard of lawn prawns? Found a bunch of 'em dead in the laundry. Apparently the rain is driving them inside," Keith, of Valentine, told Topics.

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