Conditions at the northern tip of Bribie Island have continued to deteriorate with Cyclone Alfred still forecast to be days away from making landfall.
The Pumicestone Passage Catchment Management Board (PPCMB) and Caloundra Coast Guard have described 200m at Bribie’s northern tip as being washed away.
Footage from Bluey’s Photography shows waves washing completely over the northern tip of the island.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has labelled Golden Beach a “particular area of concern” as the cyclone approaches South-East Queensland.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Crisafulli acknowledged that the island may not be able to provide Golden Beach with the protection that it had in the past.
He said the state government had asked the Sunshine Coast Council for its most up-to-date storm surge modelling, “but here is an added layer of complexity because of projection that that part of the island gives and it may not be at the level people have seen over the years”.
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PPCMB spokesperson Jen Kettleton-Butler, who discovered a 15m breakthrough last Thursday, said 200m north of that was now gone.
“Last week, we had a 1400m wide bar. Now we have a 1600m wide bar and we’re tracking for 2.5km wide by the end of this weather event,” she said.
She said the Caloundra swell marker buoy, which usually recorded waves of 1-1.5m, was recording waves in the 3-6.5m range.
“Golden Beach and Caloundra are about to be tested like they’ve never been before because they don’t have the protection of our beautiful island,” she said.
Sandbagging has been underway at the Caloundra Power Boat Club at Golden Beach where water had broken across the foreshore and on to a covered deck on the high tide over the weekend.
The Caloundra Coast Guard was also preparing to sandbag its shed near Maloja Jetty at Caloundra.
Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli acknowledged the situation at Golden Beach and Pelican Waters because a weather event of this nature had not occurred since the initial Bribie Island breakthrough.
“Those areas are certainly facing a different risk than they have done over the decades,” she said.
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A spokesperson for the Department of Environment said it was monitoring the northern section of Bribie Island given the tides and waves coming with Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
“Our professional coastal scientist visited that section on Friday. We observed beach erosion and several areas of wave wash-over occurring,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s not really possible at this stage to speculate what will occur because of the current weather event.
“At this stage, we are not planning and protective or remedial action other than what we are doing – monitoring the situation.
“At this stage, we’re advising people to avoid the northern end of Bribie Island due to the uncertainty of the current weather event.”
Caloundra Coast Guard acting commander Chris Hamilton said the ocean had now “washed away about 200m from Bribie”.
He commended locals for taking precautions with their boats and for sandbagging their properties.
“Members of the public have been very good. They’ve put their boats in the marina for safety and people are offering their own private berths so people can get their boats in,” he said.
