An Outer Banks home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean — the third home on the street to meet the same fate since Friday.
The house, located on G.A. Kohler Court in Rodanthe, fell into the ocean on Tuesday afternoon.
It’s the tenth G.A. Kohler Court home claimed by the sea in four years and the fifth collapse this year, as rising sea levels have ravaged the North Carolina barrier islands, according to WRAL.
The owners of the home that collapsed Tuesday had hired a contractor to have the home removed, but high tides and other factors delayed the work, officials said.
“Swimmers and surfers are urged to stay out (of) the water in front of the villages of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo, as there is a large amount of hazardous floating debris being transported by the waves that will cause injuries to those entering the water along the tri-villages area,” the National Parks Service said in a statement.
A large section of the beach was closed to the public. Additionally, beachgoers in the area were urged to wear hard-soled shoes to avoid stepping on nails, building materials, exposed septic systems, wires and broken concrete on the beach.
Property owners, contractors, Outer Banks visitors and seashore employees all pitched in to clean up debris that spanned more than 20 miles of beach south from the site of the homes’ collapse, WRAL reported.
More than 24 pickup truck loads hauled away debris through Monday.
Rodanthe has faced the brunt of collapsing oceanfront homes on the Outer Banks in recent years, mainly due to erosion exacerbated by climate change.
One of the homes that collapsed over the weekend once had 100 yards of beach between its back doors and the ocean.
“There was a football field of beach behind these houses” when they bought their house more than a decade ago, the homeowner told WRAL.
“So many people say hateful things [and] ask why we built our house in the middle of the ocean,” said another homeowner, Sharon Troy.
“It was not like this when we bought it.”
When Hurricane Ernesto smashed into the Outer Banks in August, an unoccupied home was washed away on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
