BUXTON, N.C. (WAVY) — A pair of offshore hurricanes produced large swells that helped collapse five unoccupied homes in Buxton, North Carolina, Tuesday afternoon, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
17 homes have now collapsed on Seashore beaches in the past five years, as the effects of these and other storms continue to ravage the coast in Rodanthe and Buxton, leaving much to clean up and more to ponder as other homes in the area teeter on the verge of collapse.
Earlier this month, a home collapsed at 46227 Tower Circle Road in Buxton.
As of 3:30 p.m., the Seashore was aware of five other home collapses that happened between 2 and 2:45 p.m.:
The Seashore said it was not aware of any injuries associated with the collapses.
One resident described what happened as difficult to witness.
“We’re all kind of predicting that some of these are going to fall,” said resident Jenni Koontz, “but I don’t think we thought five in a row.”
“It’s heartbreaking for the homeowners,” Koontz said. “It’s heartbreaking for our community. We kind of saw it coming over the past few weeks since Hurricane Erin.”
The sand is now covered in debris, with pieces of homes scattered along the shore.
“I heard the crunching to the left of me,” Koontz said, “and the yellow house fell, and I got the tail end of it as it was dropping.”
But she can remember a beach that looked much different from the way it does now.
“They’ve been here for a long time,” most of them,” Koontz said, “and there was many yards of beach in front. Nobody built their house in the ocean. I think that’s a big misconception. I feel like we’re not done here,” Koontz said. “And I think this week, there’s going to be many more that fall in.”
Scott Rozier, visiting the area, had just parked after getting back from fishing when the homes began to collapse.
“I was walking up, and as soon as I got to our driveway, the very first one started to collapse,” Rozier said. “So after that, I called my wife out. We just stepped outside, and after that, it was just a chain reaction, debris in the water and everything just started getting tangled up in the other pilings, and then the other houses started to fall.
“When this one over here fell,” Rozier said, pointing to a home to his left, “it slammed into this house [next to it], knocked the AC units off, and all the freon was just spewing out everywhere in the water and everything else as well. We actually lost water once the other two houses down here went down because it busted a water main.”
The beachfront from northern Buxton through the northern section of off-road vehicle ramp 43 was closed for public safety, according to the Seashore. Off-road vehicles using ramps 38 should avoid driving to the south, and anyone using ramp 43 should avoid traveling north, the Seashore said.
Officials were asking people to stay away from the Buxton area along the beach at this time.
And now, the community is left to pick up the pieces.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to be able to clean this up,” Koontz said. “It seems like an overwhelming amount of garbage that has been left here on the beach and the sea.”
Note: The above video aired earlier this month about a previous house collapse on Sept. 16 in Buxton.
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