From Coffs Harbour to Noosa, some of our most famous beaches have been lost

The ex-tropical cyclone that pummelled the NSW and Queensland coastlines with dangerous winds, heavy rain and high seas has washed away most of the sand at famous beaches such as Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise. Such erosion occurs naturally with a low-pressure system and beaches build back up with calm weather. Authorities may speed the recovery process by bringing in sand to restore the beaches in tourist hotspots.

However, experts say the damage to sand dunes is a more serious matter and could take years to recover, if at all. Javier Leon, associate professor in physical geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said beach recovery usually takes weeks, but with a stronger event such as Alfred it would probably take months. “The problem with the changing climate is that, in the next few decades, we will be seeing these types of events happening – stronger events, not necessarily more frequently, but stronger events,” Leon said.



“If you combine that with incremental [changes] like sea levels rising and more people living on the coast, the risk is just higher and higher, so the next time it comes, it’s going to be as bad or even worse.” Loading Leon spoke to this masthead on Monday morning while he was taking measurements on Peregian Beach, just south of Noosa. “There’s been significant erosion, some of the dunes have scarped maybe two metres, some of them three, and there’s the odd four metres scarped down the beach – it’s highly variable,” Leon said.

“The beach itself has potentially retreated horizontally, between 20 and 30 metres.” Dr Mitchell Harley, an expert in coastal erosion at the University of NSW, said last year that dunes took longer to recover than the dry sand on the beach because they were “rebuilt usually by the winds rather than waves”..