East Coast Low - 1974

In a previous post we covered a devestating East Coast Low that formed off the coast in 1974 named the Sygna Storm” Named after the 53,000-tonne Norwegian bulk carrier Sygna that went aground near Newcastle.. During the 74 storm,  15 meter waves ravaged the coast causing widespread damage to shipping and coastal properties.  The semi protected waters of Jervis Bay didn't escape the onslaught of swell. Callala Beach had extensive damage and nearly lost houses, The beach along Elizabeth Drive had meters of sand scoured away and there were some very nervous property owners at the height of the storm During the last storm on the 6th of June 2016  HMAS Creswell suffered extensive damage to the break wall and infrastructure.    Two navy yachts were badly damaged, one being totally wrecked and is still at the time of writing laying on Soldiers Beach with a large hole and two concrete pontoons attached.  The other yacht was dragged back behind the wall but suffered a large hole in her side and other damage. During the 74 storm Creswell also suffered sever damage, the break wall was broken and the sea swept past the buildings carrying stones and boulders from the wall and surrounding reef. These two photographs were sent to us by local surfer and photographer Russ Quinn. He wrote the following words.    ”They were taken by my father John Quinn. His dad, Stan Quinn, was commander of Creswell from 1974 to 1975 , the family lived out there for years on the base”.

The first amazing shot shows the wall of water reaching higher than a telegraph post smashing on the reef that lays just in front of the wall. Richard Quinn … “The photograph was also taken looking down from the quarter deck aprox 50 ft above sea level, so it’s anyones guess how big the sea was”…

The photograph above show us the aftermath of the waves intrusion.  The photograph is very similar to the recent photographs of the June storm damage to the base sent to us by Paul Newman. See those photographs and post here.

Thank you Russ for sending us these incredible photographs.