Third Outer Banks home collapses into ocean in a week

RODANTHE, N.C. (WAVY) – A third house has now collapsed into the ocean in less than a week on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

All three houses were near each other in Rodanthe. The latest, at 23039 G A Kohler Court, went down just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, per Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue. The fire service shared video of the collapse and the aftermath.

Coming to the beach after seven years, BJ and Jim McGuire say its sad to see the seashore destroyed like this.

“And very quickly, it was just debris everywhere,” said visitor BJ McGuire. “You could hear the noise. It made a heck of a bang when it went down. Unbelievable that we’ve seen so much destruction in the short time we’ve been here. Yeah, it’s unreal.”

Debris filled the beach Tuesday, and officials are urging people to stay out the water because of pollutants from the collapses.

“It is sad for all parties involved, but most importantly our ocean being polluted,” the fire department said.

“We love this place,” BJ McGuire said. “I mean, for us to make the trip down here from Vermont every year for all those years, we love the people down here. We love the laid-back vibe. And it’s it’s very sad to see what these people are losing.”

Beachgoers are calling on officials to take action to save the beach.

“I think that what gets us is we feel bad for the people down here because they want to see action,” BJ McGuire said. “They want to see something done. And the people that we’ve talked to that live down here, they just don’t feel that things are being done to help them.”

“But the feedback we’ve gotten is pretty discouraged,” Jim McGuire said, “and I think where they felt safe, I don’t think they’d feel as safe anymore.”

This is the fifth house to collapse into the ocean in the area this year, and the 10th in the past four years, per Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The Seashore said the owner of the house has hired a cleanup contractor, and Seashore employees will assist with the efforts.

Cleanup also continues for the two other houses which collapsed within hours of each other on Friday, and people are being asked to stay out of the water from G A Kohler Court in Rodanthe to Wimble Shores North Court in Waves. There are also other houses nearby in danger of collapse, the fire department says, including the one right next to the home that went down Tuesday.

So why not take them down before they fall? The owners of the homes say they’re not able to proactively demolish them because it might not be covered by insurance.

A contractor in charge of cleanup told Nexstar’s WAVY that things need to change to protect the environment and save money on cleanup.

“Let people protect their property. … It is more cost effective too. Let us tear it down before they are in peril in the ocean. … Cleaning up is not cheap.”