Pemberton Press

In February 2020 the beach at Narrabeen-Collaroy came under threat from Cyclone Uesi. A powerful North-East swell threatened a repeat of the 2016 storms, where property owners sustained severe erosion and property damage (remember the entire swimming pool falling down the scarp in one piece?).

The question was whether the three key forces would again align from the North East: swell direction, wind direction and king tide. I had the opportunity to film the aerial scenes for ABC News, using our DJI Inspire 1 Drone/ Zenmuse X5 camera. This drone has been operating flawlessly for nearly five years/100 hours and is a versatile and reliable tool for capturing the big picture (watch from 4 mins into the ABC News NSW segment above).

Luckily, the environmental impact wasn’t quite as bad this time, with NE swell but winds predominantly coming from the ESE. Still, it’s only a matter of time before the alignment happens again from the NE. When the big one comes it’s possible that many properties without a permanent protective structure will be badly damaged. Even Pittwater Road and properties on the west side of the road could be severely affected.

The political angle was also covered in ABC News 24, with a variation on the story covered in ABC News NSW (see from 8 mins into the segment).