Before and after pictures of Australia’s east coast show the true scale of devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. What was once a paradise for surfers, with golden, sunlit sands, became a battleground as waves as high as ‘three or four-storey buildings’ slammed into the coastline.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has eroded a significant stretch of Gold Coast beaches, leaving escarpments of roughly two meters while sparking calls for major repair efforts.