Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2018-110 Manuscript under review for journal Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discussion started: 24 April 2018 c Author(s) 2018. CC BY 4.0 License. Extreme water levels, waves and coastal impacts during a severe tropical cyclone in Northeast Australia: a case study for cross-sector data sharing Thomas R. Mortlock1,2, Daryl Metters3, Joshua Soderholm4, John Maher3, Serena B. Lee5, Geoffrey Boughton6, Nigel Stewart4, Elisa Zavadil7, Ian D. Goodwin2 5 1Risk Frontiers, St Leonards, 2065, Australia 2Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, 2109, Australia 3Coastal Impacts Unit, Department of Environment and Science Queensland Government, Deagon, 4017, Australia 4Fugro Roames, Runcorn, 4113, Australia 5Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4215, Australia 10 6Cyclone Testing Station, James Cook University, Douglas, 4811, Australia 7Alluvium, Cremorne, 3121, Australia Correspondence to: Thomas R. Mortlock (
[email protected]) Abstract. Severe Tropical Cyclone (TC) Debbie made landfall on the north Queensland coast of Australia on 27 March 2017 after crossing the Great Barrier Reef as a slow-moving Category 4 system. Groups from industry, government and academia collected 15 coastal hazard and impact data before, during and after the event and shared this data to produce a holistic picture of TC Debbie at the coast. Results showed the still water level exceeded the highest astronomical tide by almost a metre. Waves added a further 16 percent to water levels along the open coast, and were probably unprecedented for this area since monitoring began. In most places, coastal barriers were not breached and as a result there was net offshore sand transport.