Photo: Cape Hatteras National Seashore
By now, the news of an Outer Banks house collapsing is no surprise. Due to erosion, many beachfront homes in the area are at risk, and they are frequently lost to the surf. However, this week, a whopping five collapsed in one hour in Buxton, North Carolina.
According to an announcement from Cape Hatteras National Seashore, all the houses collapsed in the same 45-minute window, between approximately 2 and 2:45 p.m. on September 30.
“It was insane, it sounded like bombs going off,” local resident Hunter Hicks told Fox Weather. “Windows were cracking, pylons were cracking, houses were just washing all the way down the ocean. It’s pretty bad here right now.”
There are no reports of any injuries, as all of the homes were unoccupied. However, Hicks told Fox that there were people renting the homes just a month ago, that were forced to evacuate ahead of the storms.
“Seashore visitors are urged to stay away from the collapsed house sites and to use caution for miles to the south of the sites, due to the presence of potentially hazardous debris,” wrote Cape Hatteras National Seashore. “This is an ongoing incident; further collapses are possible due to the ocean conditions.”
Another local who spoke to Fox Weather, agreed that may not be the end of the destruction in store for the area.
“Yeah, so those houses are all hanging on by a thread,” said Jenni Koontz. “A lot of them are missing a lot of pilings that are holding them up, and they’re slowly losing more and more. Some of the homes are braced and a little bit stronger, but for the most part, they’re all vulnerable. And this beach is just getting started with the weather. So I imagine there’s going to be many more that fall.”
