Waves have swept away entire beaches in Sydney’s north and homes on the coast have had their front yards eroded away in scenes eerily reminiscent of a wild storm that devastated the area in 2016.

The storms that battered much of Sydney over the weekend have been particularly violent on Sydney’s northern beaches where some suburbs have been evacuated.

Pictures from Collaroy show the beach has been swallowed by sea foam swept up by the high winds and six-metre waves and, as high tide sweeps in, it could get worse.

UNSW coastal researcher Mitchell Hartley has been sharing videos and images from Collaroy where he reports houses have been “spared” but are “ready to go again for next weekend’s forecast massive waves (plus) already eroded beaches”.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Basically, the next few hours will be critical.”

In June 2015, the worst storm to hit Sydney in 40 years washed away much of the coast at Collaroy and gave us the unforgettable image of a woman’s front yard pool falling into the ocean.

But Collaroy isn’t the only suburb being smashed by the storm.

In nearby Queenscliff, locals woke this morning to find its beach completely eroded by the rising sea.

At Narrabeen, where locals reported seeing a shark in the lagoon, residents have been told to get out of town while they can.

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The storm took Queenscliff Beach @QueensieSLSC . Will it ever come back? pic.twitter.com/arimLaRMBs — Robyn Sefiani (@robynsefiani) February 9, 2020

A friend sent this, the rain on east coast of Aust is intense.



The lagoon behind Queenscliff beach (near Manly) has burst its seam, flooded a river to ocean. Queenscliff beach doesnt exist anymore - its gone. pic.twitter.com/ZXtoNPGspO — CanoeShoes (@canoeshoeaus) February 9, 2020

Entire streets were flooded and closed off on Sunday night with fears a high tide could push even more water towards homes and the threat of more rain predicted today.

The Manly Daily reports the SES sent mobile phone messages to those in the flood zone amid predictions the northern beaches could be worse off after this year’s storm than they were in 2016.

An SES spokesman told the newspaper that evacuation orders were in place for residents of more than 900 homes.

Dam levels across greater Sydney have spiked more than 20 per cent amid heavy weekend rainfall, with enough water for as much as 150,000 Olympic size swimming pools flowing into Warragamba Dam.

Sydney, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains were soaked after receiving between 200mm and 400mm of rain from 9am on Friday to 5pm on Sunday, with additional rain expected on Monday and through the week.

On Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology suggested the Harbour City had not experienced such rainfall since before the new millennium.

Water NSW data on Monday morning showed that greater Sydney dam levels were at 64.2 per cent, up 22.3 per cent in seven days.

Meanwhile, the Insurance Council of Australia has declared another weather-related catastrophe, this time for property losses caused by storms and flooding along the east coast.

It is the sixth catastrophe declared in five months after a summer of raging bushfires and storms.

Showers are forecast to continue after Queensland’s south east copped a drenching over the weekend.

A severe thunderstorm warning for the region has been cancelled but the weather bureau says falls of up to 30mm are still forecast throughout today.

Most beaches on the Gold Coast have been closed to swimmers due to rough seas and large tides.

– W ith AAP and Natalie Wolfe

Is your suburb being impacted by the storms? Send pictures to rohan.smith1@news.com.au | Twitter: ro_smith