6 Killed as Giant Waves Batter Australia

New York Times

20-04-2025

At least six people died in Australia as towering waves battered Sydney and other places along the country's east coast over the Easter holiday weekend, the police said.
A low pressure system brought powerful surf starting Friday, and waves taller than 24 feet were recorded off the coast of Brisbane in the state of Queensland on Friday, according to government data.
Australia's meteorological agency had issued a warning for hazardous surf for a long stretch of coast from Queensland to New South Wales that includes Sydney, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast, and cautioned that conditions could be dangerous for rock fishing, boating and swimming.
By the time the hazardous surf warning was lifted on Sunday, five people had died in New South Wales, including in Sydney, and another in the state of Victoria, officials said. Another two people were missing.
On Sunday morning, a man who was fishing in Wattamolla, about 20 miles south of Sydney, died after being swept into the sea, the New South Wales police said. A 14-year-old boy who was with him was rescued from the water and hospitalized in stable condition.
The man was the fifth to drown in the state since Friday, according to the New South Wales police. All five deaths, between New South Wales' south coast and northern Sydney, were of men who the police believed were fishing or walking on rocks along the coast when they fell or were swept into the ocean.
Another man remained missing after he was swept into the ocean while walking with friends on rocks at Little Bay Beach in Sydney on Friday, the police said on Saturday.
According to Royal Life Saving Australia, a nonprofit that promotes water safety, 128 people drowned in New South Wales in 2024. Around half of those drownings occurred along coastlines.
In Victoria, a woman died on Friday morning after being washed off rocks in San Remo, a town on the state's southern coast, the state police said. Another man and woman were also swept away. The woman made her way back to shore, but the man was still missing.