The damage to Cronulla’s beaches and Botany Bay foreshore in last week’s storms was a repeat of the destruction caused in 1974.
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The two events occurred within a week of each other, 42 years apart, caused by east coast lows ( intense low-pressure systems).
Weather experts say most significant east coast lows occur between June and August each year.
“A wave of destruction” was the headline on the Leader’s front page report in the June 5, 1974 edition.
”The violent storms on the weekend before last have left scars on Cronulla beaches and Botany Bay foreshores that won’t heal for a long time,” the report said.
The caption on a front page photo of Cronulla beach said bulldozers and graders had been at work for a week “after huge seas battered the foreshore”.
A photo of North Cronulla beach carried the caption, “A child’s slippery dip washed from its cement laid foundations lies amid the debris caused by huge seas”.
Another edition contained a photo of the federal Minister for Repatriation and Compensation, Senator J M Wheeldon, inspecting Cronulla beach with Sutherland Shire Council representatives.
Senator Wheeldon indicated the federal government would provide assistance.
“It is a national natural disaster and we can’t place the entire restoration burden on Sutherland Shire,” he said.
The report said, during the storms, massive concrete slabs from the seawall were uprooted and turned over, lengths of railway line used in the foundations were twisted and bent and dangerous cliffs of sand were caused by sea erosion.