Ocean Battle: Crews rush to save North Carolina Outer Banks home from collapsing into the Atlantic
Many of these homes were once hundreds of feet from the beach but are now constantly exposed to ocean water, a drastic example of ongoing coastal erosion, which has been exacerbated by storms over the last several year
Watch: Crews working to save Buxton beachfront home from collapse
Several homes along the Outer Banks beaches have collapsed in the last few years. Beach erosion from extreme weather events accelerates the process. Video taken in Buxton on March 10 shows crews working to add extra pilings to a home nearest the beach, hopefully saving it from the same fate as its former neighbors.
BUXTON, N.C. — New video from Buxton, a community along North Carolina's Outer Banks, shows crews attempting to shore up and save an oceanfront house sitting barely above the tideline.
31 homes in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe have collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean since 2020, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Many of these homes were once hundreds of feet from the beach but are now constantly exposed to ocean water, a drastic example of ongoing coastal erosion, which has been exacerbated by storms over the last several years.
![Outer Banks Hurricane damage]()
Image 1 of 6John Contestable, a building inspector for Dare County, walks by an oceanfront cottage that sits on the sand about 25 yards from its pilings in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003. The oceanfront house was tossed back on the beach by Hurricane Isabel on Sept. 18, 2003. (Steve Earley/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Steve Earley/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service)
![Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) is urging its visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water near the north end of Rodanthe and potentially for miles to the south, due to an early morning collapse of an unoccupied house.]()
Image 2 of 6Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) is urging its visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water near the north end of Rodanthe and potentially for miles to the south, due to an early morning collapse of an unoccupied house. (Cape Hatteras National Seashore)
![Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) is urging its visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water near the north end of Rodanthe and potentially for miles to the south, due to an early morning collapse of an unoccupied house.]()
Image 3 of 6Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) is urging its visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water near the north end of Rodanthe and potentially for miles to the south, due to an early morning collapse of an unoccupied house. (Cape Hatteras National Seashore)
![Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter.]()
Image 4 of 6Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter. (Daniel Pullen via Storyful)
![Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter.]()
Image 5 of 6Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter. (Daniel Pullen via Storyful)
![Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter.]()
Image 6 of 6Home collapses in Buxton, North Carolina amid powerful nor'easter. (Daniel Pullen via Storyful)
The beach around Buxton Village remains closed to public entry as coastal storms have damaged homes and septic systems.
Jenni Koontz of Epic Shutter Photography, who captured the video, told news agency Storyful that crews were placing batter pilings to reinforce the threatened home.
Photographer describes the scenes of destruction at site of 5 home collapses
Get a firsthand look at the debris piles left behind after five homes lost their battle with the Atlantic Ocean. Two hurricanes are sending powerful waves toward North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Most recently, four unoccupied homes collapsed after a historic bomb-cyclone nor'easter smacked the Carolinas in late January.
Large waves from Hurricanes Erin and Humberto — both of which intensified into Category 5 storms — and Hurricane Imelda amplified erosion last year.
Eight homes collapsed in Sep. and Oct. 2025 amid swells generated by Humberto and Imelda.
Photo shows crews working to add extra pilings to a home in Buxton, NC on March 10, 2026.
(Jenni Koontz/Epic Shutter Photography via Storyful / FOX Weather)
"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 last fall.
NOR'EASTER LEAVES BEACHFRONT OUTER BANKS HOME VULNERABLE TO ROUGH SURF
FOX Weather was on the ground in Buxton on Oct. 2, 2025 following a series of home collapses in early October.
Correspondent Katie Byrne was preparing for a live report on the beach when a home she had been closely monitoring began cracking and creaking behind her, before swaying forward and collapsing in the water, caught on video.