Five bedroom home collapses into ocean as coastal erosion claims North Carolina town

The Outer Banks are reportedly shrinking more than 14 feet a year in some places

Site of the collapsed house in Rodanthe (Cape Hatteras National Seashore)

A five-bedroom home located in North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday night, prompting concern over the spread of debris along the shore.

Plans are underway to remove the remnants of the beach-face cottage from the coast. Built in 1980, it was located just south of the Hatteras Island Fishing Pier and was valued at $310,100, reported the Island Free Press online newspaper.

In a Facebook post, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore advised visitors to “use caution when participating in recreational activities on the beach and in the ocean between the villages of Rodanthe and Salvo due to debris from a collapsed house”.

It said that while “the bulk of the debris is at the site of the collapsed house” located in Rodanthe, “smaller amounts of debris have been spotted” more than seven miles away.

The National Park Service is communicating with Dare County to coordinate the removal of the house and the related debris on the beach, said the release.

“We are in communication with the owner, who will need to come up with a house removal plan,” Michael Barber, Public Affairs Specialist of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told the Island Free Press.

“We will issue a special use permit for the removal, and we are working with the owner and the county to clear the debris.”

Though the cause behind the collapse was not revealed, media reports said the area has been dealing with beach erosion for almost a decade, with NBC affiliate Wavy.com reporting that in 2020, another oceanfront home had vanished overnight in Rodanthe.

The Outer Banks are shrinking more than 14 feet a year in some places, reported The New York Times in March 2021, citing the Division of Coastal Management.