A trip up the beach took a “shocking” turn yesterday when a “massive” landslip half-buried a car and nearly took out another along a popular beach.
Epic Ocean Adventures Noosa owner Tyron van Santen was kayaking with clients parallel with the coloured sands at Double Island Point, about 11km from Rainbow Beach, when he saw the incident unfold about 11.30am.
“It was massive. There was a lot of sand and you can see those big trees against the car as well that came down from the top,” he said.
“I’ve driven up some days and seen new slips there, but that was a new one – to see such a big one fall down right in front of our eyes.
“It wasn’t until we paddled a bit closer that we saw there were cars underneath it.”
He said he believed the cars were parked about five metres apart when the slip came down, shoving one car into the other and half-burying one.
“It was really, really lucky that no one got hurt,” he said.
“I think one of the guys was actually near or in his car as it was happening and he was able to get away.
“Luckily it was a pretty quiet day, so there would have only been four or five cars up at Double Island.
“If it had have been on a busy weekend it might have been a different story, because there’s usually a few cars on that section.”
He said the five passengers from the two cars involved were left unscathed and dug their cars out themselves.
“There were quite a few big trees falling from the top, it was a close call,” he said.
“It was a pretty loud noise as the two cars come together too, so it was a bit of shock for them.
“They were a bit concerned about their cars I think.”
He said the other car towed the half-buried car out and they managed to eventually drive off the beach.
“They had a shovel there so they dug it out a little bit and pulled it out with snatch strap,” he said.
“I think they wanted to get their car out of there because it was still pretty unstable up there.
“The cars, especially that red one, is pretty much written off.”
He said the landslip occurred on the north end of the lagoon and near the gorge.
“It was near a section called ‘the sticks’ that a lot of people know – it’s a bit of a difficult section to drive through because a lot of the time there’s trees down that make passing impossible,” he said.
“It’s still dangerous there, as there are some large trees only hanging by a couple of roots at the top.”
In his 12 years as an adventure tour guide, he said he had seen sections of the coloured sands become more unstable than they once were.
“Some of those cliffs are over 200 metres high and that section where they were is really fragile,” he said.
“Many parts have got a lot more vegetation on them and are a lot more stable than they used to be. But you’ve got that small section there, that’s unstable when you’ve got all the swell and waves hitting it.”
He urged beachgoers to be careful parking close to the dunes.
“Once the cars had left you could pretty much not really tell there had been any incident there, apart from the trees and some sand down there,” he said.
“People need to be vigilant on that section of the beach.
“The cliffs are pretty much vertical, quite steep and very unstable in that section where there’s no vegetation growing against them.
“You will see some slips that have happened overnight, typically with rain, it’s just natural – but it’s the first one I know of that’s taken out a car.”
Once returning to the office, he said he filed an incident report.
“Because it had already happened and they got themselves out and there were no injuries, emergency services didn’t come out I don’t believe,” he said.
A Department of Environment and Science Spokesperson said exposed sand dunes and sand cliffs along Teewah and Rainbow beaches are unstable and can collapse without warning.
“The safety our visitors and staff in our protected areas is our number one priority,” the spokesperson said.
“People are not advised to park vehicles at the base of sand cliffs and to never let children play near or on sand dunes and sand cliffs.
“The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has previously conducted a review of camping areas along the Cooloola Coast and permanently closed areas where there is a high risk of landslips.”
The spokesperson said landslips along the Cooloola Coast are not uncommon and can occur at any time.
“The foreshore, intertidal zones and sand cliffs on exposed Queensland beaches such as Double Island Point are a dynamic and constantly changing environment,” the spokesperson said.
“Climbing on, sliding down or digging into them is dangerous and can lead to serious injury or death.”
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