As 2 more Outer Banks beach houses collapse into Atlantic, property owners face tough choices
With a nor’easter bringing high winds and rough seas parked offshore, two Outer Banks beach houses collapsed into the ocean Tuesday.
The second cottage fell into the Atlantic Tuesday afternoon, hours after the first broke apart in rough surf overnight, the National Park Service said.
Both cottages, two houses apart at 24265 and 24235 Ocean Drive, respectively, in Rodanthe, were unoccupied.
Over the last two years, several other oceanfront homes along the same road have been destroyed by waves, or are in danger of the same fate, after more than a decade of erosion in the area. Debris from the collapses still litters the beach, with exposed septic tanks visible in the surf.
On Feb. 9, a five-bedroom cottage at 24183 Ocean Drive tumbled into the ocean, spreading debris over many miles of beach before the homeowners and volunteers organized a beach cleanup. In 2020, the ocean claimed another cottage just as the owner had hired someone to raise it.
After the February collapse, Dare County inspectors examined nearby homes, condemning eight of them and removing the electrical boxes, the county’s Planning Director Noah Gillam said. The National Park Service notified each of those property owners, urging them to move or demolish their homes before the ocean could take them.
“I will tell you some of the homeowners did not have a plan based on our discussions,” David Hallac, superintendent of the National Parks of Eastern North Carolina, said at a March community meeting to discuss imperiled homes along Ocean Drive. “The National Park Service is not responsible if you allowed your house to collapse.”
Cape Hatteras National Seashore has implemented an emergency plan as houses fall to deploy park service staff immediately and volunteer teams within 48 hours to clean up dangerous debris from the beach.
“Unfortunately, there may be more houses that collapse onto seashore beaches in the near future,” Hallac said in a news release Tuesday. “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.”
Once the beach reopens, those who plan to clean up debris should place piles above the high tide line, so that it doesn’t get washed back into the ocean, the park service said.
Hallac said the condemned homes, exposed septic tanks and trashed beaches “aren’t a good look for a national seashore.”
With more houses in danger of collapsing, county officials and the park service say there is no long-term strategy for the homes, or the rapidly eroding beach.
The funds aren’t there for beach nourishment and the National Park Service must get federal approval for such projects anyway. Hallac said federal approval is only granted to protect infrastructure, public safety and public travel. The row of homes along Ocean Drive, private beach cottages mostly built in the 1980s, don’t qualify.
“Little roads with houses on them are not going to be a priority,” Hallac said.
For years, sandbags have been one method of holding off the ocean in Rodanthe, which is home to the famed blue-shuttered cottage from the 2008 “Nights in Rodanthe” film. Two years later, the cottage, now called the Inn at Rodanthe, was in danger of falling into the ocean too, but was purchased and moved back from the beach.
Owners of the oceanfront homes on Ocean Drive have been stymied by 18-month wait lists for companies that move houses, or have chosen to do nothing since insurance doesn’t pay until the house collapses, county and park service officials said.
“Insurance won’t believe it’s not a rich person’s problem,” said Dare County Manager and Attorney Robert Outten.
Ocean Drive and the beach around it were closed Tuesday as the nor’easter brought a third day of 40 mph winds, large swells and rough surf to the Outer Banks.
The storm is also causing major coastal flooding on Hatteras Island. Authorities on Tuesday morning closed N.C. 12 from the Marc Basnight Bridge at Oregon Inlet to Rodanthe and said the road will likely remain closed Wednesday. Ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands was suspended.
Dare County’s Emergency Management Department said overwash flooding along portions of N.C. 12 across the Outer Banks, particularly on Hatteras Island, may continue through at least Wednesday evening.
“Ocean overwash is most likely to occur within several hours of high tide, and flooding could become progressively more impactful with each high tide cycle for the next several days,” the county said in a news release.
A coastal flood warning remains in effect from Duck to Buxton through Thursday morning.
Kari Pugh, kari.pugh@virginiamedia.com
