Coastal hazards and storms

Main Beach tidal inundation

Our coastline and beaches are important from an environmental and economic point of view, and as a place for Byron Shire’s 35,000 residents and 2.1 million annual visitors to enjoy.

Our coast includes coastal waters, rocky and sandy shorelines, dunes, and coastal lakes.

It is shaped by wind, waves, tides, and currents, which can result in erosion, deposition, and inundation of coastal land.

These hazards can create risks to the coastal environment and coastal communities. Climate change is another factor in modifying coastal processes, hazards, and risks.

Coastal hazards, such as the following, are natural processes which can expose coastal areas to risks such as potential property damage and environmental degradation.

  • Beach erosion
  • Shoreline recession
  • Cyclic variability
  • Coastal late or water course entrance stability
  • Coastal inundation
  • Tidal Inundation
  • Coastal cliff or slop instability
  • Erosion and inundation of estuary foreshore caused by tidal waters and wave action.

We have started preparing Coastal Management Programs for our coastline to help us manage these hazards.

Coastal Hazard Assessment

Assessment of coastal hazards affecting the Byron Shire coastline is part of Coastal Management Program Stage 2 preparation. 

To understand the dynamics along the Byron Shire coast a sand movement and coastal hazard assessment within two sediment compartments has been completed. This is in accordance with the NSW Coastal Management Manual. 

The sand movement component was used to inform a Shire-wide coastal hazard assessment. 

The technical study is now complete and available to download below. It has been broken into sections to reduce download times.

What coastal hazards affect the Byron Shire coastline?

All of the coastal hazards listed above can pose risks to our coast. Beach erosion, cyclic variability and shoreline recession are key hazards that affect the open coast of the Byron Shire coastline.

The actual amount of beach erosion and/or inundation that occurs during a storm is difficult to predict due to the complex interaction of many factors, including the following.

  • Beach state controls the natural rate that a beach tends to respond to storms.
  • Dune height and beach width determines the amount of sand available to initially buffer the erosion impact on the dunes and the amount of freeboard that might exist as the storm water level rises and reaches its peak.
  • Storm wave height, period, and duration determines the rate at which erosion occurs and how long the erosion proceeds, and therefore the total volume of sand removed from the beach.
  • Water level determines the height that waves can reach to overtop natural and built structures, and the depth of inundation behind the shoreline.
  • Time since the previous storm determines whether the current storm will be compounding the sand losses of a previous storm or sequence of storms;
  • Localised processes include processes like rip currents that can locally enhance the beach erosion.

During 2020/21, the embayment’s coastline between Clarkes and Main Beach experienced persistent erosion due to a natural cycle of reduced sand supply around Cape Byron and storm waves coinciding with higher-than-normal tides. This resulted in loss of significant volumes of sand and dune vegetation. To learn more, see our project page: Main and Clarkes Beach Dune Recovery Project.

What emergency management is in place?

Council has prepared a draft emergency management plan which outlines the emergency actions it intends to undertake in the event of a beach erosion emergency.

Under the plan, Council may work with emergency service providers such as the State Emergency Service (SES) in the event of a declared beach erosion emergency or an emergency caused by severe weather.

This emergency plan will be updated and finalised as part of the preparation of our Coastal Management Programs 

For information about emergencies, warnings and preparedness please visit our Emergency Dashboard.

History of storms

Coastal processes are complex and dynamic.

Our current dune system was created 8,000 years ago. The geological history of the coastline and coastal processes have all contributed to the present formation of our Shire's coastline. 

Processes such as erosion and recession are reoccurring at a significant rate in the Byron area. Coastal processes can impact on our use of the coast and development of coastal land and assets. Climate change and forecast sea level rise are important to consider as we plan for our future.

Our wave climate is a generally persistent long period (10-12 second waves) of low to moderate energy swell from the southeast. Wave climate is predicted to change to a more easterly direction, and this may have implications for north/south facing beaches as sand moves and is depleted.

A brief history of storms and coastal damage in the Byron Shire between 1888 and 2022 is provided below.

Year/period Damage and event summary 
2022 Ex Tropical Cyclone Seth welcomed January 2022 with a large wave event combined with king tides. Byron Shire’s beaches fared well apart from localised erosion at west Main Beach, Cavvanbah and Belongil. Wave over-topping and erosion impacted some of Council’s beach access ways.  
2020/21 December large wave event combined with elevated water and king tides acting on an already severely depleted beach profile in the eastern beaches of the Byron Bay Embayment.
2019 Tropical Cyclone Oma in February generated significant east to north-easterly swell combined with abnormally high tides. Significant erosion of eastern beaches of the Byron Bay Embayment. Abnormally higher than normal tides combined with a moderate storm in early July caused erosion and recession of frontal dunes.
2016  "Black" North-easterly swell event yielded various erosion impacts to beaches through interference with littoral sand transport.  Appears to have started an erosion trend that continued into 2020.
2013 Ex tropical cyclone Oswald marked the beginning of an erosion cycle sustained for a number of months by moderate easterly swell events / east coast lows on spring tides.
2009 May: Extensive erosion from an East Coast Low and following swell on king tides.
2001 Extensive erosion from an East Coast Low.
1999 Extensive erosion from storms and a large swell event.
1996 Extensive erosion from East Coast Low.
1984 Esplanade Road on Belongil Beach lost to the sea via erosion.
1974 February – Cyclone Pam caused extensive and severe coastal erosion and property loss including Sheltering Palms Village.
 May/June – severe coastal erosion.
1972 to 1973 Severe coastal erosion, remains of jetty removed.
1955 to 1956 Period of severe coastal erosion.
1954 Cyclone, extensive and severe erosion, damage to new jetty, all 26 fishing boats lost.
1948 New jetty damaged and six fishing boats lost.
1933 to 1936 Period of severe and extensive beach erosion.
1928 New jetty built (610 m long) due to damage to old jetty from heavy seas.
1921 'MV Wollongbar' wrecked off Byron Bay in an easterly gale.
1889 to 1896 Numerous shipwrecks in the area from easterly gales and storms.

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