RODANTHE, N.C. — Another house collapsed into the ocean in Rodanthe, North Carolina, on Tuesday, making it the third time this happened in one week, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore said.
“It’s not fair, but the ocean tends to do what she wants to do,” said Kill Devils Hill resident Patty Culb.
“It’s so odd to me that what I once considered my happy place to go to is now looking like this,” said frequent beach visitor Rem Evergarden.
Shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday, Cape Hatteras National Seashore Law Enforcement rangers responded to a call about a house collapse on G A Kohler Court. Once the rangers arrived, they confirmed the home was no more.
Culb is not shocked. Just a month ago, she said she was cleaning the house next door to the one that collapsed Tuesday afternoon. Culb said she saw signs that it would be the next to fall into the ocean.
“We’ve been watching them and knew something was going to happen, and unfortunately, it was going to be soon,” said Culb.
While there were no cleaning crews in sight Tuesday evening, Cape Hatteras National Seashore said in a press release that its employers and the homeowner will work to clean up the debris left behind from the home.
Evergarden said she immediately noticed piles of debris left on the beach from previous collapses when she parked her car.
“I paid $15 to park at Rodanthe Pier, stepped out, and saw all the metal and pieces of wood with screws sticking out like teeth,” said Evergarden.
Seashore officials strongly urge all visitors to stay out of the water in front of the villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo due to a large amount of hazardous floating debris. People walking on the beach on the north end of Rodanthe and for miles southward are also encouraged to wear hard-soled shoes to avoid injuries from nail-ridden wooden debris.
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore has temporarily closed the beach from G A Kohler Court in Rodanthe to Wimble Shores North Court in Waves. This also includes the closure of Dare County's Rodanthe Beach Access at 23731 NC Highway 12.
After this latest collapse, Culb feels sadness for those whose homes have been washed away.
“There’s probably about six [more] of them that’s probably going to go too, unfortunately, and the neighbor right here, he’s a really nice family, and that was their dream home to have down here, and I see it’s already been demolished, getting ready to be done and it’s a shame,” said Culb.
Tuesday's collapse is the third house to fall into the ocean in Rodanthe since Friday, and the 10th overall reported in the past four years.