Another beachfront stilt house collapses into the surf on the Outer Banks

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BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — A beachfront stilt home along the Outer Banks in North Carolina has collapsed into the surf, bringing the total number of houses claimed by the Atlantic Ocean to 12 in the past five years.

The two-story, wood-shingled home at the north end of Hatteras Island collapsed Tuesday afternoon, littering the sand with nail-studded debris. The house was unoccupied, said Mike Barber, a spokesman for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

“Seashore staff are out today, cleaning up the beach to the south of the collapse site,” Barber said in an email Wednesday. He said the homeowner has also hired a contractor to “work primarily near the house collapse site to remove the bulk of the remaining house structure and nearby debris associated with the collapse.”

The previous 11 home collapses since May 2020 were all in the tiny village of Rodanthe, the eastern-most point in North Carolina, and made famous by novelist Nicholas Sparks. During the state’s recent brush with Hurricane Erin, many locals were watching two beachfront houses there, but they survived the surf.

The latest house to succumb was less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which was moved 2,900 feet (884 meters) inland in 1999 to save it from erosion. It was one of about three dozen structures — including portions of two hotels — along that beach that were decertified for occupancy in late August, when Erin skirted the coast, said Dare County Planning Director Noah Gillman.

“The erosion in Buxton has significantly increased in the past couple of years," Gillman said Wednesday. “And that continued increased erosion, compiled with the effects of Hurricane Erin, got us to the point we are today.”

Gillman said the decertifications were because of damage to the septic system and external stairs. He said it is up to the property owners to decide whether to do the work required to come back into compliance.