New video from Buxton, a community along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, shows crews attempting to shore up and save an oceanfront house sitting barely above the tideline.
31 homes in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe have collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean since 2020, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Many of these homes were once hundreds of feet from the beach but are now constantly exposed to ocean water, a drastic example of ongoing coastal erosion, which has been exacerbated by storms over the last several years.
The beach around Buxton Village remains closed to public entry as coastal storms have damaged homes and septic systems.
Jenni Koontz of Epic Shutter Photography, who captured the video, told news agency Storyful that crews were placing batter pilings to reinforce the threatened home.
Most recently, four unoccupied homes collapsed after a historic bomb-cyclone nor’easter smacked the Carolinas in late January.
Large waves from Hurricanes Erin and Humberto — both of which intensified into Category 5 storms — and Hurricane Imelda amplified erosion last year.
31 homes in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe have collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean since 2020. Jenni Koontz/Epic Shutter Photography/Storyful Eight homes collapsed in Sep. and Oct. 2025 amid swells generated by Humberto and Imelda.
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“The houses were originally built away from the ocean but over time, in some areas like this location in Buxton, we can have more than 10 feet of erosion of the beach annually,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent David Hallac told FOX Weather last fall.
Eight homes collapsed in Sep. and Oct. 2025 amid swells generated by Humberto and Imelda. Jenni Koontz/Epic Shutter Photography/Storyful FOX Weather was on the ground in Buxton on Oct. 2, 2025 following a series of home collapses in early October.
Correspondent Katie Byrne was preparing for a live report on the beach when a home she had been closely monitoring began cracking and creaking behind her, before swaying forward and collapsing in the water, caught on video.
