UPDATE: A sixth Outer Banks home fell into the Atlantic overnight in Buxton, the National Park Service reported Wednesday, Oct. 1.
This story has been updated to reflect the additional loss.
Wind gusts and 12-foot swells joined forces to pull six Outer Banks homes into the ocean as Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda churned the Atlantic, North Carolina officials say.
Five collapsed between 2 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, and the homes were located on Cottage Avenue and Tower Circle Road in Buxton, according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The sixth home fell at 11 p.m., park officials said.
Video shared on social media shows pilings holding up the homes snapped, leaving the structures to break apart as they bobbed in the surf and slammed into each other. Walls of debris were seen washing ashore.
None of the homes were occupied and no injuries were reported as of 4 p.m., the National Park Service said.
“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,” the park reported in a news release.
“This is an ongoing incident; further collapses are possible due to the ocean conditions.”
“Dozens” of homes in the area are at risk of falling into the Atlantic, due to erosion washing away “protective dunes,” the National Park Service says. Such dunes protect homes by absorbing the impact of waves, experts say.
The fallen homes were located at: 46001 Cottage Ave.; 46002 Cottage Ave.; 46007 Cottage Ave.; 46209 Tower Circle Road, 46211 Tower Circle Road and 46203 Tower Circle Road, park officials said.
All five were located precariously close to the ocean, due to beach erosion.
“The daily effects of winds, waves, and tides, along with rising seas and storms, have played a part in contributing to coastal erosion impacts at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, particularly adjacent to the villages of Rodanthe and Buxton, North Carolina,” the National Park Service said.
These effects have left homes on “the open beachfront or in the intertidal area.”
“During severe weather events, which the Outer Banks of North Carolina experiences throughout the year, privately-owned oceanfront houses in vulnerable areas get battered by strong winds and large waves, leading to the collapse of houses in recent years.”
Park officials said Wednesday that it is “too early to discuss clean up plans” for the fallen homes, due to the two storms continuing to impact the seashore.
“We have been in contact with multiple owners, but their cleanup plans are unclear at this time. Seashore staff will contribute to the cleanup following improved weather conditions,” park officials told McClatchy News in an email.
At least 18 homes at Cape Hatteras National Seashore have collapsed into the Atlantic over the past five years, including one earlier in September on Tower Circle Road, officials say.
The collapses occurred as the Outer Banks feels the impact of 45 mph gusts and 12-foot waves associated with Hurricane Humberto, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters say the strengthening Hurricane Imelda to the south is adding to the rising surf and potential for coastal flooding.
N.C. 12, the major highway connecting the barrier islands, was closed Tuesday at the north end of Ocracoke Island due to “increasing ocean overwash,” the N.C. DOT said. The road is expected to remain closed until Thursday, Oct. 2, state officials said.
The storms are expected to remain offshore, but tropical-storm-force winds are extending more than 200 miles from Humberto’s center, forecasters say.
“Swells from Humberto are likely to cause dangerous surf and life-threatening rip current conditions, affecting ... much of the east coast of the United States over the next several days,” the National Weather Service said Tuesday.