Five OBX homes collapse amid flood warning Tuesday; 15 houses swept into sea in 4 weeks

BUXTON, N.C. (WAVY/WNCN) — Five houses collapsed at the Outer Banks on Tuesday, now totalling 13 houses that have fallen into the ocean in the Buxton community since Sept. 30 and 15 along Cape Hatteras National Seashore since that day — just four weeks ago.

Four weeks ago — September 30 — six homes fell into the ocean in just one day, with five swept away in just about 45 minutes.

On Tuesday, two homes, located at 46002 Ocean Drive and 46223 Tower Circle Road, fell around 10:45 and 11 a.m., according to the National Park Service.

Another two houses collapsed Tuesday afternoon, located at 46003 Ocean Drive and 46016 Cottage Avenue, around 12:45 and 1 p.m., respectively.

As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, the fifth house swept away and broke apart at 46213 Tower Circle Road around 4:30 p.m., Cape Hatteras National Seashore said.

Officials warned of the possibility of collapse as a weather system brings a gale warning, flood warning and high surf to the chain of islands.

“Two beach closures are in place because of dozens of threatened oceanfront structures that may break apart or collapse,” the national seashore said Monday.

The first of 15 Outer Banks homes to collapse in 2025 happened in Buxton on Sept. 16.

As the seashore consistently erodes due to the daily effects of winds, waves, and tides, along with rising seas and storms, the seashore properties are being brought to the water’s edge.

The recent severe weather events, such as Hurricane Helene and Erin, have caused these oceanfront structures built several hundred feet away from the ocean in the 1970s through the 1990s to collapse.