Five unoccupied houses along North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the ocean on Tuesday as Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda rumbled in the Atlantic, the National Park Service reported. These collapses mark the latest private beachfront structures to fall into the surf in recent years.

The homes, once propped on high stilts, gave way in the afternoon in Buxton, a community on one of the string of islands that make up the Outer Banks, said Mike Barber, a spokesperson for the park service. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, according to a post by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on social media.

In a video taken by Brayan Garcia, several homes could be seen teetering on their stilts, battered by relentless waves before ultimately plunging into the surf. The shoreline was littered with debris, including two-by-fours, cushions, and even an entire home, as wave after wave rolled in from the Atlantic Ocean.

“Seashore visitors are urged to stay away from the collapsed house sites and to use caution for miles to the south of the sites due to the presence of potentially hazardous debris,” the Cape Hatteras National Seashore advisory stated. The post also warned that further collapses were possible given the ongoing ocean conditions.

This event marks the second time in six weeks that the Outer Banks has faced strong waves churned by a hurricane. In late August, Hurricane Erin brought rough surf and high tides to Rodanthe, North Carolina, where beachfront homes were visibly on the verge of collapse.

North Carolina’s coastline is almost entirely composed of narrow, low-lying barrier islands that have been eroding steadily amid rising sea levels for years. Since 2020, seventeen privately owned houses have collapsed on Seashore beaches, according to the park service. The first 15 were located north of Buxton in Rodanthe, but a home in Buxton fell into the surf just two weeks ago.

The threat to these structures often escalates when storms impact the region, as has been true with the two recent hurricanes, even as they moved further out to sea. Experts note that barrier islands like the Outer Banks were never ideal locations for development. These islands typically form as waves deposit sediment off the mainland and shift based on weather patterns and other ocean forces. Some islands even disappear over time.

Portions of eastern North Carolina were placed under coastal flood advisories and warnings, the National Weather Service reported, with dangerous surf conditions expected in the area through the rest of the week. Ocean overwash on Tuesday also forced the state Transportation Department to close a section of North Carolina Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island. Additionally, the ferry service connecting Ocracoke and Hatteras islands was suspended for the day.

Swells generated by Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto are expected to affect parts of the U.S. East Coast over the next few days. Imelda is the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season and formed shortly after Hurricane Humberto, which rapidly intensified into a major hurricane over the Atlantic on Saturday. However, Imelda is not expected to make landfall and is forecast to drift farther east throughout the week.
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