Ferocious seas destroy Punakaiki sandbags

Punakaiki residents will be back on the beach at low tide later this afternoon to reinstate sandbags ripped apart by the ferocious tides over the past couple of days.

Buller District Mayor Garry Howard, who helped drive the working bee that built the temporary wall in front of the council-owned campground a few weeks ago, will again be there with his shovel.

Mr Howard said there was always a "distinct possibility" the sandbags would move.

"And who would have thought we would have the actual event we've just had," he said, referring to the unusually large swells which had civil defence on alert throughout the West Coast yesterday.

The large swells also threw foam and debris on the Greymouth section of the cycleway yesterday evening.

Mr Howard called for volunteers to gather at low tide about 4pm - "the more we get to help the better".

Punakaiki campground manager Craig Findlay said the sea was "too ferocious".

The sandbags were preventing erosion but their displacement showed how powerful the sea was. However, without the sandbags they would have lost "more metres".

"I'm hopeful of a more permanent solution and sooner, rather than later.

"The tide keeps getting higher," he said, referring to growing wave height coming into the new moon.

Speaking after the subsequent tide, son Jed said the big bags were faring better, and they absorbed the force of the waves. The sand had come out some of the smaller ones.

However, they were holding where they were needed most -- right in front of the most eroded part.

The West Coast Regional Council will be writing to Punakaiki ratepayers today to outline options for a permanent seawall.

Meanwhile, the Grey District Council closed the roads to both the Cobden and Blaketown tipheads shortly before 9am as a precaution.

Council civil defence emergency management officer Allan Wilson said the harbour supervisor felt the seas were large but not unusually big.

Mr Wilson said he was surprised to see a boat crossing the bar in the conditions.

 

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