A neighborhood continues to vanish as seventh home collapses on NC’s Outer Banks

A neighborhood continues to vanish on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, with a seventh home falling into the Atlantic Ocean in just three days, investigators say.

The latest collapse involved an unoccupied home at 46207 Tower Circle in Buxton, which fell around 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, according to the National Park Service.

It is the fourth 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 just as a federal budget showdownhas 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 debris, but “their cleanup plans are unclear at this time,” park officials said.

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.

Nineteen homes at Cape Hatteras National Seashore have collapsed into the Atlantic over the past five years, park officials say.