and relentless erosion have claimed a growing number of houses and forced some property owners to take drastic measures to retreat from the oceanfront.
“Another one bit the dust,” David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, said in an interview. And it probably won’t be the last, as many homes in the area are perilously close to the surf. “This situation will continue.”Tuesday’s collapse prompted officials to close a roughly one-mile stretch of beach to the public while cleanup began. Given the wind and tides, the remnants of fallen homes can stretch for miles along the shoreline.
“If we don’t do it, we’d be accepting the fact this debris would continue to spread for many miles,” he said. “You have to begin cleanup immediately, otherwise it becomes an almost unachievable cleanup in the future.”Hallac said that along the beach, he saw many boards with nails sticking out of them, along with chunks of drywall, mattresses, kitchen utensils, chess pieces and dominoes.
Noah Gillam, planning director for Dare County, said the home on Ocean Drive had been “decertified for occupancy” since early 2022 because it no longer had a“The erosion kept them from ever being able to reestablish a septic system,” Gillam said in an email. He said that in recent weeks, the house began showing signs that some of its pilings were failing, and it began to lean.