Outer Banks homes on brink of collapse as erosion, king tides worsen

By Liz McLaughlin

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    OUTER BRANKS, North Carolina (WRAL) — Erosion, high winds and king tides are pushing vulnerable homes to their breaking point along the Outer Banks.

On Friday, Drone 5 captured video of Rodanthe homes at risk of collapsing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Friday’s drone video showed septic systems cracked open, spilling sewage into the water. One home had its deck starting to collapse into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rodanthe homes falling into the Atlantic is a growing problem without an easy solution.

Sharon Troy and her family have owned their home in Rodanthe for 16 years.

When they first bought the house, Troy said, “There was a football field of beach behind these houses.”

The Troy family’s oceanfront home is now in the ocean.

“So many people say hateful things [and] ask why we built our house in the middle of the ocean,” Troy said. “It was not like this when we bought it.

“It wasn’t like this just a few years ago. And, we aren’t rich people. We are hard-working normal people. We can’t afford to move it. There is nowhere to move it. The insurance company won’t pay out until it falls over.”

Park officials and contractors are concerned that there could be a domino effect if Troy’s home collapses.

“It’s incredibly sad,” Troy said. “All we can do is hope and pray.”

Over the weekend, community members came to help clear chunks of the Troy’s deck that ripped off.

“We’re trying to be proactive [and] take care of our homes,” Troy said. “It’s kind of hard. Insurance companies don’t do anything until your house falls in the ocean.”

Seven homes in Rodanthe have collapsed in the past four years, according to a spokesperson for the National Park Service.

Mark Gray with WM Dunn Construction said his company has been contracted for the cleanup of at least five homes in recent years.

“When it’s rough like this, like when the last one went in, we had to clean 11 miles of beach,” Gray said.

A bank that foreclosed on one Rodanthe beachfront home hired Gray and WM Dunn Construction to tear down the structure before it collapses.

“It’s a mess,” Gray said.

The homes are in front of what used to be GA Kohler Street, which is now a pile of sand.

There was more damage Monday night into Tuesday morning.

“Overnight, the beach is gone; two, three, four feet of sand [is] completely gone,” Gray said. “It’s changed the whole dynamics of this thing.”

Saltwater has flooded the streets too.

“We’re bringing more equipment down to get ready for the potential collapse of the house,” Gray said. “Everything’s changed now. If the house falls, there’s no beach to get on to clean it up, so I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Despite cleanup efforts, planks of wood and rusty nails littered the beach on Monday.

“It’s a really unfortunate situation because that debris can scatter long distances across the seashore,” said Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac.

Hallac said climate change is exacerbating the natural erosion rates of barrier islands, putting more structures under threat.

“When you add a foot of water or two feet of water, that just makes everything worse,” Hallac said.

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