See it: North Carolina house collapses into Atlantic Ocean, 12th in 5 years along Outer Banks

Watch: House collapses into the Atlantic Ocean, 12th in 5 years along North Carolina Outer Banks

An unoccupied home collapsed in Buxton along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Tuesday. It's the 12th house collapse along the seashore in the past 5 years according to the National Park Service.

BUXTON, N.C. – The National Park Service (NPS) is warning people to watch out for debris along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach in Buxton, North Carolina, after an unoccupied home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday afternoon, the latest chapter in a relentless battle against the waves of the Atlantic.

This is the 12th house to collapse along the seashore in the past five years, according to the NPS, a result of ongoing beach erosion.

The NPS said some debris still remains in the area. Visitors are also being urged by the NPS to avoid the north end of Rodanthe due to the presence of similarly threatened oceanfront homes.

The collapse comes after a coastal storm lashed the North Carolina Outer Banks earlier this week with heavy rain, coastal flooding and strong winds.

THIRD HOME IN A WEEK COLLAPSES INTO ATLANTIC OCEAN ON NORTH CAROLINA'S OUTER BANKS

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent explains homes collapsing into Atlantic Ocean

David Hallac, the Superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore explains why now 12 home have collapsed in the past 5 years along the North Carolina Outer Banks.

The NPS said certain homes in the villages of Buxton and Rodanthe are now in an intertidal zone – an area that is exposed during low tide but partially covered by water during high tide. Many of these homes were previously on completely dry dunes.

"The houses were originally built away from the ocean but over time, in some areas like this location in Buxton, we can have more than 10 feet of erosion of the beach annually," Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent David Hallac told FOX Weather Thursday.

Debris removal crew cleans up home collapse along North Carolina Outer Banks

The National Park Service (NPS) along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is warning people to watch out for debris along the beach in Buxton, North Carolina, after an unoccupied home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday afternoon.

The collapses are caused by daily exposure to winds and tides, and homes are particularly vulnerable during any kind of coastal storm, according to the NPS and the FOX Forecast Center.

"Over time, the ocean just gets closer and closer to the house pylon and eventually the sand erodes away from the house pylon," said Hallac. 

The NPS even submitted a report to Congress in December 2024 detailing the ongoing battle against coastal erosion, and the state released a similar report earlier that summer.

According to the NPS, it is working with Dare County to encourage homeowners to relocate if possible. Using money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a congressional program established in 1964, the NPS purchased and demolished two vacant properties in Rodanthe.

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Hallac said the homeowners of Tuesday's collapse worked very closely with the NPS to help clean up debris from the collapse. He said the homowners had a contractor use heavy machinery to remove the debris the day after the collapse.

FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray reported from the Outer Banks last November during the second-most recent collapse, also during a coastal storm.

Ray became stranded after water from the Atlantic Ocean overtook the local highway.

While Ray was seeking higher ground, he said his photographer, stationed in Rodanthe, saw the leftovers of a home that had collapsed overnight. 

"It sounded like a heavy, strong tropical storm was pounding the Outer Banks," Ray said. "You could hear the building, sort of, making banging noise and water hitting off of the glass and the windows pretty extensively. It felt like we were headed into the beginnings of a hurricane."

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The Dare County Government and state Department of Environmental Quality held a question-and-answer session with oceanfront homeowners Thursday.