5 homes collapse into the surf of the Outer Banks as hurricanes rumble in Atlantic

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Five unoccupied houses along North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the ocean Tuesday as Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda rumbled in the Atlantic, the National Park Service said, marking the latest private beachfront structures to fall into the surf there in recent years.

The homes, once propped on high stilts, collapsed in the afternoon in Buxton, a community on the string of islands that make up the Outer Banks, said Mike Barber, a spokesperson for the park service.

No injures were reported, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore said in a post on social media.

In videos shown by the local station 13News Now, homes teetered on stilts battered by the waves before plunging into the surf. The shoreline was clogged with debris, two-by-fours, cushions and an entire home as wave after wave rolled in from the Atlantic.

The post said that more collapses were possible given the ocean conditions, and urged visitors to avoid Tuesday's sites, including areas several miles south to stay clear of debris.

North Carolina’s coast is almost entirely made up of narrow, low-lying barrier islands that have been eroding for years as the sea level rises. Seventeen privately owned houses have collapsed on Seashore beaches since 2020, the park service said.

The first 15 were north of Buxton in Rodanthe, but a Buxton home fell into the surf two weeks ago.

The threat to these structures often builds when storms affect the region, as is the case with the two latest hurricanes, even as they headed further out in the Atlantic.

Portions of eastern North Carolina were subject to coastal flood advisories and warnings, the National Weather Service said, while dangerous surf conditions were expected in the area through the rest of the week.

Ocean overwash on Tuesday also prompted the state Transportation Department to close a portion of North Carolina Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island. The ferry connecting Ocracoke and Hatteras islands also was suspended Tuesday, the department said.