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The collapses have created a growing mound of debris just as a federal budget showdown in Congress has resulted in a partial shutdown of the National Park Service. This photo was taken Oct. 2 and the home on the left once stood at 46221 Tower Circle Road.
National Park Service photo
UPDATE: A ninth home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Oct. 3, at 23047 G.A. Kohler Court in Rodanthe, according to the National Park Service. The home was unoccupied. The other eight homes that collapsed were in Buxton, about a 25-mile drive south of Rodanthe on the Outer Banks.
The original story is below.
An entire neighborhood is continuing to vanish in Buxton, North Carolina, as the eighth home in four days fell into the Atlantic Ocean, Outer Banks officials say.
The latest collapse involved an unoccupied home at 46221 Tower Circle Road, which fell around 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, according to the National Park Service.
It is the fifth home on Tower Circle Road to collapse since Monday. The other three homes are on Cottage Avenue, which intersects Tower Circle Road. None were occupied.
The collapses have created a mountain of dangerous debris along the Outer Banks just as a federal budget showdown has caused a partial shutdown for the National Park Service.
Safety concerns prompted Cape Hatteras National Seashore to close the beach in Buxton, as well as the beach in northern Rodanthe.
“These closures are in place because of dozens of threatened oceanfront structures that may break apart or collapse, releasing hazardous debris into the water,” the park said in a news release.
Owners of the “multiple” fallen homes have been contacted about cleaning up the wreckage, but “their cleanup plans are unclear at this time,” park officials said.
It is common for debris from collapsed homes to drift for miles, and the National Park Service says 40 staffers will begin work Oct. 3 on collecting debris that has washed up south of Buxton.
Dozens more homes remain at risk of falling due to wind and waves generated by Hurricane Imelda and the remnants of former Hurricane Humberto, experts say.
The storms will bring “large breaking waves, ocean overwash, coastal flooding, and wave runup impacts” to the Outer Banks through the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service.
Worsening erosion and rising sea levels are behind the growing threat to beach homes. When protective sand dunes vanish, homes are left in the direct path of breaking waves, experts say.
Twenty homes at Cape Hatteras National Seashore have collapsed into the Atlantic over the past five years, park officials say.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 6:31 AM.
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Mark Price
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