Outer Banks Beach Houses Collapse Into Ocean

CAPE HATTERAS, NC — Flooding caused two beach houses on the North Carolina coast to collapse and wash into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, the second and third such collapses this year, according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials.

Video released by the agency shows the moment one of the structures collapsed as waves crashed into its support structure. Another video shows the building being buffeted by the water as it is sucked into the ocean.

Officials closed the beach along Ocean Drive in Rodanthe, North Carolina, where the collapses occurred, and urged beach visitors to use caution and be aware of possible debris from the collapse along Hatteras Island.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials will work closely with the homeowners to coordinate cleanup efforts, and they ask any volunteers to place any debris above the high tide line to keep it from being washed back into the ocean.

Another house on Ocean Drive collapsed in February, and cleanup of smaller pieces of debris from that incident is still ongoing, according to officials.

More houses located on that stretch of beach could collapse in the near future, National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent David Hallac said.

"We proactively reached out to homeowners along Ocean Drive in Rodanthe after the first house collapse and recommended that actions be taken to prevent collapse and impacts to Cape Hatteras National Seashore," Hallac said.

A storm currently on the coast of North Carolina brought unusually high tides and has put more of the homes in immediate danger, Dare County Commissioner Danny Couch told AccuWeather.

Officials knew collapses were "inevitable" at the beginning of the year, and Couch indicated that two more could be coming in the "immediate future."

Relief is likely not coming Wednesday. The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood warning and a high surf advisory for the northern Outer Banks and Hatteras Island until Thursday morning.

The beachfront house collapses are part of an accelerating trend in North Carolina. Prior to the three this year, the previous collapse was in 2020. Prior to that, a house damaged by Hurricane Sandy was washed into the Atlantic in 2012, according to AccuWeather.