One block on the Outer Banks has had three houses collapse since Friday
Posted on 09/25/2024
Like massive dominoes, the homes along one block of oceanfront in Rodanthe, N.C., keep tumbling into the sea.
The latest came early Tuesday afternoon when the ocean claimed an unoccupied house at 23039 G.A. Kohler Ct. It marked the third such home collapse since Friday on this erosion-plagued stretch of the Outer Banks — and the 10th home to fall since 2020.
“Unfortunately, it is all too common these days,” David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told The Post on Friday after a nearby home on the same block had collapsed overnight.
That home caused damage to another house next door, which then plummeted into the ocean on Friday evening.
That chain reaction might soon repeat itself. In videos posted online, the home that fell into the ocean on Tuesday afternoon — which bore a sign that read “Front Row Seats” — appears to slam into a neighboring house that is also perched precariously in the Atlantic surf.
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Rodanthe, home to some of the most rapid rates of erosion on the East Coast, has become a poster child in recent years for the perils of living along a vulnerable coastline, particularly in an age of more intense storms and rising seas.
Multiple homeowners in this small community have raced to relocate their homes farther from the shoreline, often at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Others have tried to move their homes further from the encroaching tides, only to run out of time.
The National Park Service, which oversees the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, on Tuesday urged swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water along Rodanthe and the nearby communities of Waves and Salvo, “as there is a large amount of hazardous floating debris being transported by the waves that will cause injuries to those entering the water.”
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In addition, the agency said a swath of public beach remains closed around the site of the recent collapses. And it urged any visitors at the north end of Rodanthe and for miles to the south to “wear hard-soled shoes when walking on the beach to avoid injuries from nail-ridden wooden debris.”
Federal officials said the owner of the house that fell on Tuesday has hired a contractor to help with a massive cleanup effort that has been unfolding since Friday.
Even before the most recent collapse, the Park Service said that debris had been spotted for more than 20 miles along the coast, and that employees had helped supplement the private contractors by removing more than 24 pickup truck loads of debris. Those employees also used chainsaws to cut seven large house pilings into manageable pieces for contractor removal, the agency said.
Cleanup efforts were scheduled to continue this week, but officials said there was no timetable for the beach to be fully restored, given “the potential for additional debris to wash ashore or become exposed as the sand shifts.”
The latest came early Tuesday afternoon when the ocean claimed an unoccupied house at 23039 G.A. Kohler Ct. It marked the third such home collapse since Friday on this erosion-plagued stretch of the Outer Banks — and the 10th home to fall since 2020.
“Unfortunately, it is all too common these days,” David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told The Post on Friday after a nearby home on the same block had collapsed overnight.
That home caused damage to another house next door, which then plummeted into the ocean on Friday evening.
That chain reaction might soon repeat itself. In videos posted online, the home that fell into the ocean on Tuesday afternoon — which bore a sign that read “Front Row Seats” — appears to slam into a neighboring house that is also perched precariously in the Atlantic surf.
Advertisement
Rodanthe, home to some of the most rapid rates of erosion on the East Coast, has become a poster child in recent years for the perils of living along a vulnerable coastline, particularly in an age of more intense storms and rising seas.
Multiple homeowners in this small community have raced to relocate their homes farther from the shoreline, often at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Others have tried to move their homes further from the encroaching tides, only to run out of time.
The National Park Service, which oversees the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, on Tuesday urged swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water along Rodanthe and the nearby communities of Waves and Salvo, “as there is a large amount of hazardous floating debris being transported by the waves that will cause injuries to those entering the water.”
Advertisement
In addition, the agency said a swath of public beach remains closed around the site of the recent collapses. And it urged any visitors at the north end of Rodanthe and for miles to the south to “wear hard-soled shoes when walking on the beach to avoid injuries from nail-ridden wooden debris.”
Federal officials said the owner of the house that fell on Tuesday has hired a contractor to help with a massive cleanup effort that has been unfolding since Friday.
Even before the most recent collapse, the Park Service said that debris had been spotted for more than 20 miles along the coast, and that employees had helped supplement the private contractors by removing more than 24 pickup truck loads of debris. Those employees also used chainsaws to cut seven large house pilings into manageable pieces for contractor removal, the agency said.
Cleanup efforts were scheduled to continue this week, but officials said there was no timetable for the beach to be fully restored, given “the potential for additional debris to wash ashore or become exposed as the sand shifts.”
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