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Reuters Reuters
15 December, 2020, 7:09 pm
Sea foam forms at Froggy s Beach at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, December 15, 2020, in this still image from social media. Rob Ledger/via REUTERS
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s northeast coast was smashed by heavy rains, wild winds and huge seas for the fifth straight day on Tuesday, forcing widespread evacuations.
As water levels continued to rise due to the heavy overnight rains shutting low-lying roads, New South Wales (NSW) state emergency services directed hundreds of residents of several regional towns to move to safer places.
The cyclonic conditions, generated by an intense low-pressure system off the Queensland coast, have swallowed beaches and submerged large swathes of the heavily populated regions between NSW and Queensland state borders.
Heavy rains, wild winds force evacuations in Australia
15 Dec 2020
Gulf Today Report
Heavy rains, wild winds and huge seas for the fifth straight day on Tuesday have forced widespread evacuations in Australia’s northeast coast.
New South Wales (NSW) state emergency services directed hundreds of residents of several regional towns to move to safer places as water levels continued to rise due to the heavy overnight rains shutting low-lying roads.
The cyclonic conditions, generated by an intense low-pressure system off the Queensland coast, have swallowed beaches and submerged large swathes of the heavily populated regions between NSW and Queensland state borders.
Cyclonic conditions along Australia’s northeast coast generated huge seas that washed away beaches at popular tourist spots, and destructive winds and rain that caused widespread flooding.
Main Beach at Byron Bay, a popular tourist destination in northern New South Wales, has almost disappeared, Byron Mayor Simon Richardson said.
“Right now around Byron, we’ve got some severe weather, massive swells, we’re watching our beach disappear,” he said.
“This is about the fourth or fifth major event in the last couple of years.”
TV news footage showed a concrete walkway along the beach collapsing into the sea.
The wet conditions contrast with the fierce bushfires that ravaged world heritage site Fraser Island in Queensland recently.
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The main beach at Australia s Byron Bay has all-but disappeared as the country s north-east coast is smashed by wild storms for a fifth straight day, forcing widespread evacuations.
A 1,000km (620 mile) stretch of coast is being hit with torrential rain and the abnormally high tides, which battered beaches that have already been depleted and weakened due to previous erosions.
Coastal management experts say the situation is particularly bad because of erosion that has been occurring over recent months. And now 26ft tides have washed away huge sections of loose sand and also brought down trees along the banks.
High seas have destroyed some of the most famous beaches along the coast, including the main beach at Byron Bay in northern NSW home to Hollywood A-listers such as Chris Hemsworth.