The storm, which hit last Monday night, caused significant damage to Jimmys Beach at Hawks Nest and to Stroud’s infrastructure. 

Tea Gardens and Bulahdelah also experienced flooding, road damage and several fallen trees due to strong winds. 

Great Lakes Council’s director of engineering services Ron Hartley said the storm had completely destroyed the Stroud showground and estimated the repair bill to be around the $1 million mark.

“All of the fencing has been knocked over and many buildings have been pushed off their foundations,” Mr Hartley said. 

“There is also extensive water damage to the inside of the building, and damage to the tennis court, fencing around the courts and the swimming pool.

“We are also yet to assess the damage to the pool’s pumping and electrical station.”

Meanwhile, Great Lakes Council has closed The Boulevard at Jimmys Beach until further notice after most of the roadway was washed away in heavy seas. All of the houses along the stretch are unoccupied holiday rentals, Mr Hartley said. 

“At the moment the road is down to less than two metres. It’s too narrow for vehicles so we have closed that stretch which is about 160m of road,” Mr Hartley said. 

“There are about 15 houses along that stretch which are all holiday rentals. People can still access the properties on foot but no vehicles will be allowed through.” 

In the event of a storm the section of beach has been prone to major erosion problems over the years, the most recent in September 2014 when the largest swell in decades hit the area, tearing off chunks of road and stripping sand off the beach. 

Despite the ongoing problems, however, Mr Hartley said council will continue to replenish the beach after receiving approval from the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS).

“The RMS just approved council to do restoration works under the natural disaster program,” Mr Hartley said. 

“We’ll be moving sand back to the beach starting on Wednesday (today) and that should take us a few days. We’ll be taking the sand from Deadmans Quarry. 

“The road is supported on top of sand so the plan is to build up the dune then start repairing the road.” 

After the completion of the restoration works, Mr Hartley said council will dredge sand from the eastern channel of the lower Myall River on May 14. 

Sand will then be pumped onto the beach two weeks later to restore the dune and buffer zone. The restoration works are expected to cost around $136,000. 

“We expect to pump about 36,000 cubic metres of sand onto the beach,” Mr Hartley said.

The Great Lakes, which was officially declared a natural disaster zone last week, is set to receive disaster relief funding from federal and state governments.

“At this stage we don’t know if some of the damage will be covered by insurance or council,” Mr Hartley said.   

“Council will need to make a claim and submit estimates of the damage before any money is allocated.”