More Westshore erosion as Napier coast takes a hammering

One small step for mankind, one big step for Westshore - resident Norm Fraser at the steps used to access the beach until washed out in the storm on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor

A shingle embankment protecting Westshore from the ocean has been breached with possibly the most extensive flooding of the beach reserve for several years.

Resident Norm Fraser, who has lived in Charles St about 15 years, said he had seen the seas come "over the top" before but this time it has been "washed away."

As he spoke with Hawke's Bay Today mid-afternoon, about two hours after the pre-noon high tide, a barbecue table in the reserve was submerged to within 20cm of the top and he said it was a sign of the urgent need for a remedy to the beach erosion which has plagued the area.

In one place the sea had carved two metres of shingle back from steps down to the beach.

He said it was "ridiculous" for councils to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep replenishing the embankment rather than establishing the permanent remedies.

It was one of the impacts of the storm on the coast, with dramatic images emerging also of scenes on the Haumoana-Te Awanga-Clifton coast, facing directly into the swells.

There had been no specific warning from MetService or Hawke's Bay Civil Defence, although conditions reflected an 8am MetService coastal situation update which said a complex low was slow-moving near Hawke's Bay and directing strong east to southwest flow over the North Island.

Larry Dallimore, who has followed and campaigned-over Westshore coastal erosion issues for many years, including a term on Napier City Council, posted on social media on Wednesday night "surfies" would enjoy the conditions for Friday and Saturday "while the midnight and midday 1.8m high tides have a noticeable impact on Napier beaches."

The forecast 2.3-metres easterly swell was at the time set to peak late Thursday night, followed with more peaks through to midnight on Saturday.

"These seas are not from a Tropical Cyclone but the predicted seas for the HB coast compared with those created by Cyclone Pam, back in March 2015," he said.

Civil Defence emergency management controller Ian Macdonald said late afternoon the swells were expected to dissipate with no particular extra threat in the next high tide shortly before midnight.

Councils were investigating and expecting to be able to comment on Friday.