Harbour wall gives way after record tide
Residents of the lower quay were moved overnight as a forty-metre section of the Victorian sea wall collapsed.
A forty-metre stretch of the harbour wall at Northshore collapsed in the early hours of Saturday, after the highest tide recorded in the town since gauges were installed in 1953.
Coastguard teams evacuated twenty-six homes on the lower quay shortly after 2am, when water began running through gaps in the stonework. Nobody was hurt, the council said.
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Repairs could take months
Engineers who inspected the wall at first light said the damage was worse than feared. "The core has washed out behind the facing stones," said Tom Okafor, the council's head of coastal works. "We are looking at months, not weeks."
We heard a crack like thunder and then the sea was in the street.
Temporary barriers of rock-filled bags are being placed along the gap ahead of the next spring tide, which is expected on 26 October.
Residents who need somewhere to stay can call the council's emergency line, which is open around the clock until further notice.
Comments (3)
Gerald M.
I have lived on the quay for forty years and I have never seen anything like it. The council has known about this for a decade and done nothing at all.
Sue P.
Thank you to the coastguard and the volunteers who knocked on every door in the middle of the night. They were calm, kind and quick.
Anon
Typical. Money for the new roundabout but nothing for the wall that keeps the sea out of our living rooms, absolutely shameful.