A beachfront home in Rodanthe, North Carolina, collapsed into the ocean on Friday, reports The New York Times. Located in a small town on the Outer Banks, a dramatic video of the event was shared wildly across social media over the weekend, in which the home’s pilings give way moments before the residence hits the sand and the home is swept into the sea.
According to officials, the collapse was a result of rising tides, strong waves, and other cascading impacts of Hurricane Ernesto, which was downgraded to a tropical storm then re-classified as a hurricane over the weekend. The Shingle-style home was unoccupied at the time, and nobody was hurt. However, officials warned that other properties could be at risk and some residences in the area had already sustained some degrees of damage. The National Park Service (NPS) encouraged people to stay out of the water as dangerous debris could be in the ocean for up to a dozen miles.
Rodanthe has a number of homes located directly on the beach, some just feet from the water, and according to the NPS, this is the seventh in the area in four years to collapse. For many, the latest occurrence is a stark reminder of the effects of climate change. “We’ve been watching for that house to fall into the ocean for 20 years,” one person wrote on the platform X in response to a video of the home’s collapse. “I’m surprised it took this long.”
According to The New York Times, sea levels in North Carolina have risen by about half a foot since 2000 as a result of climate change, and could rise another half a foot by 2050. The Outer Banks, which is built on shifting sand, is particularly vulnerable to these effects. “Many private properties adjacent to the beach in Rodanthe, which previously contained backyard land, dunes, and dry sand, are either partially or fully covered with ocean water on a regular basis,” explained the NPS in a news release. Over time, the water weakens the pilings and the homes fall.