Hurricane Ernesto battered the North Carolina coast on Friday, sweeping beach houses out to sea.
The home collapsed on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Rodanthe, the northernmost village on the Outer Banks, which has suffered from severe coastal erosion for years. the National Park Service said.
Shocking footage shows the water being stirred up by Ernesto and the brown, two-storey house being dragged beneath the waves.
“Oh my God. Oh my God!” someone can be heard screaming in the video.
The house was an elevated beach-style home built on pilings, but collapsed when a strong tide surged over the property line.
Debris that had broken away from the house could be seen floating alongside it, but most of it had been spat out onto shore.
Wooden planks and other parts of the collapsed home were spread across the sand for hundreds of feet after the collapse, but experts estimate that much of the debris was swept out to sea more than a dozen miles.
But with Ernesto expected to strengthen over the weekend, officials believe it won’t be the only home lost that could collapse into the Atlantic.
“There are numerous homes throughout Rodanthe that are at risk of collapse over the next few days. Swells from Ernesto are expected to peak on Saturday and Sunday,” Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue officials said.
“It’s going to be a rough weekend so please heed the warnings and stay out of the water.”
Fortunately, no one was inside the home and no injuries were reported.
The house collapse is the seventh to occur along the coast in the past four years, including two that occurred on the same day in May 2022.
The accelerating loss of coastline is due to wind, waves, tides, rising sea levels and storms. According to the NPS.
Severe weather events like Ernesto, which are common throughout the year on the Outer Banks, can batter already fragile homes and cause them to collapse.
Authorities are waiting for the remaining debris, possibly from homes that have not yet collapsed, to wash ashore, and access to beaches has been closed due to strong currents brought by Ernesto.
