ROUGH surf that pounded the Hunter's coastline has dragged away tonnes of sand and dumped a junkyard of driftwood - leaving local beaches almost unrecognisable.
Waves so mammoth they battered the side of the Cooks Hill Surf Club on Monday have absolutely stripped Bar Beach of sand, while accessways at Merewether, Dixon and Stockton beach remain closed.
Newcastle City Council hopes it can begin to repair the damage caused by unrelenting east-coast lows this month, a spokeswoman said.
"Large and powerful surf conditions combined with high tides have impacted sections of Newcastle's coastline over the weekend," she said.
"This has been compounded by recent severe weather events.
"All of Newcastle's beaches, with the exception of Nobbys Beach, remain closed due to ongoing dangerous surf conditions."
The council is undertaking daily inspections of all beaches to ensure they are safe for the public, and hopes safe accessways will reopen once repair work is finished.
Newcastle's beaches were hit by severe erosion in April, with locals calling it "the worst in living memory".
At the time, University of Newcastle associate professor Dr Hannah Power said those kinds of waves are rare, and added it takes a long time for the coastline to recover.
In Lake Macquarie, Redhead Beach has also seen some erosion, particularly at First Creek.
A council spokeswoman said parts of Nine Mile Beach remain hazardous, but that most areas would naturally heal over time.
"In addition, erosion has occurred at Reids Reserve at Swansea Heads and council is in discussions with the NSW Government to improve this location," she said.
The situation wasn't much different further up the coast, with recent weather events wreaking havoc at Port Stephens with large potholes, damaged roads and erosion on the beaches and riverbanks.
The council's facilities and services group manager Greg Kable said its priority has been urgent repairs to the most dangerous potholes on high-speed roads, ensuring road closures are in place and providing support to the NSW SES for communities like Hinton, Woodville and Osterley.
"A full assessment of damage to our roads, riverbanks and coastline will be undertaken over the next week," he said.
