Five unoccupied oceanfront houses collapsed Tuesday in Buxton on North Carolina’s Outer Banks amid strong onshore winds and high surf.
The structures fell between 10:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 46002 Ocean Drive, 46223 Tower Circle Road, 46003 Ocean Drive, 46016 Cottage Avenue, and 46213 Tower Circle Road, park officials said.
The total number of homes that have collapsed on Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches since 2020 due to hazardous weather conditions is now 27, with 16 of those in just the last six weeks.
Debris from the most recent collapses prompted beach closures because of “dozens of threatened oceanfront structures that may break apart or collapse, releasing hazardous debris into the water and onto Seashore beaches,” a Facebook post stated. “The proximity of these damaged structures to Seashore lands poses a serious risk to visitors walking along the beach or wading in the surf.”
Winds gusted to the 40s and 50s mph on Tuesday with waves up to 10 feet, the National Weather Service reported. A Coastal Flood Warning remains in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, WTKR reported.
North Carolina Highway 12 flooded in spots on Ocracoke and Pea islands but reopened by noon Wednesday, transportation officials said. Visitors were urged to avoid travel one hour before and after high tide.
Of 16 houses lost on Hatteras Island in six weeks, 15 were in Buxton this year — eight on Tower Circle Road and five on Cottage Avenue — plus one in Rodanthe.
“We need to allow ourselves to consider slightly changing the map of our coastal communities, and concentrate our money and sand on areas that can be saved,” Robert Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, told the Wilmington Star News.