Topics: ballina environment society, ex-cyclone oswald

STRONG winds, heavy seas and high tides have combined to cause destruction on North Coast beaches.

The situation on the beaches is expected to worsen this morning, before easing off after midday.

Yesterday beaches were hammered by 6m seas, with an easterly swell of about 4m.

The swell is expected to decrease to 2-3m late this morning and the sea will also decrease to 2m by early evening.

Despite continued warnings for people to stay at home, many ventured to coastal lookouts to see the roaring ocean.

This is the third time in 12 months that North Coast beaches have been battered and Ballina Environment Society spokesman Lee Andresen said that if there was another depression again soon, it could have major impacts.

"An enormous amount of sand is being shifted because of the strength of the wind and the angle of the wind, which at first came from the east and then the north," he said.

"We get sand drift at the edges of the beach because the vegetation is getting covered by sand.

"We are wondering if we are in for something like what we had in the mid-1970s - a recession of the beaches.

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Beaches battered by huge swells