A householder’s DIY defences look to have saved his property as the region’s coast took a battering from storm-force winds and wild waves.
Mother Nature’s two-pronged attack saw high tides and north easterly winds of up to 70mph scour huge steps in the sands, some stretches losing up to six feet overnight.
For Lance Martin, in The Marrams, Hemsby, it meant a sleepless night as waves tore into soft dunes below his teetering bungalow where a string of properties have already been abandoned and bulldozed before they toppled into the sea.
MORE: Toilet tumbles as home begins to collapse in HemsbyHe said: “It was more than fortunate that I put the defences in because we all thought it was going to be nice and calm until the winter next year.
“It was really bad. The wind must have been up to 70mph easy.
“I had to put safety goggles on coming out into the garden because of all the sand and it was blowing me all over the place. The square blocks were in a nice square line.
“Without them I would have been vulnerable. The waves were crashing at the base of the blocks. It has saved me. It was pretty hairy.”
MORE: Gaping holes on clifftops are stark reminder of the erosion at Hemsby homesMonday morning’s (March 30) bright sunshine and moderate breeze were in sharp contrast to the weekend’s wildness.
Plastic bread baskets that were doing their bit to hold the dune ridge were now hanging off, he said.
The hope was that the sea would put back what it had taken away by the summer.
He had previously mounted an audacious strategic retreat, pulling his bungalow back from the cliff edge to buy him more time in his dream retirement home.
And while a huge amount of sand had been grabbed exposing his buried defences and shifting one-tonne rocks, in other places there was too much of the stuff blown in front of the lifeboat station and cafe further along.
Just south of Hemsby at Scratby the effects of the storms were clear to see with a 5ft vertical ridge in places.
In recent years Hemsby has become a poster community for coastal erosion, with dramatic images of homes hanging off cliffs seen around the world.
The case for protection and funding is still being made with residents and council arguing that the costs of coastal erosion to the economy, tourism, and seaside culture make defences worth fighting for.
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