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Locals in Sydney’s east woke on Wednesday to discover some of the city’s most famous beaches and walkways battered and damaged by huge overnight swells.
Bondi, Bronte, Clovelly and Cronulla beaches were among the areas smashed by 5.5 metre swells.
Bondi’s world-famous Icebergs pool was hit hard by the wild surf. Some glass fences above the pool were broken and railings mangled. The wreckage of a large water tank washed up on the sand of Bondi beach.
Sam Bebb, the operations manager at Wylie’s baths in Coogee, a few suburbs south of Bondi, said they got “lucky” compared with Icebergs due to their amenities being more elevated.
“The worst … is some broken seating on the pool deck and damage that we haven’t quite been able to assess to the fence line surrounding the premises,” Bebb said.
Wylie’s has been closed for swimming since Sunday. It was also closed on Wednesday, as were many eastern beaches.
A section of the Cronulla esplanade has been cordoned off, with parts of the concrete walkway cratering from four-metre waves as civil crews inspected the damage wrought overnight.
Brick walls also buckled under the pressure of powerful waves at Bronte.
Bayside council in Sydney’s south shared photos of extensive damage on Wednesday of broken footpaths, fallen debris and crushed bike lanes at Dolls Point as workers furiously tried to make sure the traffic flow was safe.
Several beaches in the city’s north that are popular with tourists, such as Dee Why, were also impacted and remain closed.
Some adventurous swimmers still braved the conditions on Wednesday morning, dipping into an ocean pool overlooking Cronulla beach.
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The Bureau of Meteorology said the immediate threat of coastal hazards had passed and damaging surf conditions had eased, but a hazardous surf warning remained for the entire New South Wales coast.
The bureau warned against swimming, rock fishing and boating in affected areas.
NSW police advised people to stay out of the water and avoid walking near surf-exposed areas.
The forecast on Wednesday was for heavy swells to continue for most of this week along the NSW and southern Queensland coasts.
Waves up to 6.3 metres were recorded at the Eden wave buoy on Tuesday morning and 5.1 metres at Batemans Bay in the afternoon. A 5.9 metre wave was registered at the Port Kembla buoy early on Wednesday morning.
– with Australian Associated Press
