RODANTHE, N.C. (WAVY) – Cape Hatteras National Seashore is urging people to avoid the beach at the north end of Rodanthe due to an unoccupied house collapse.
There were five cottages on pilings surrounded by water on Monday, now there are only four. Mother nature broke down the cottage named “The Beach House.”
According to officials, a house collapse in the early morning hours of Sept. 20 in the 23000 block of Ga Kohler Court. In addition to the collapse house, the Seashore states they are also monitoring a nearby house that was damaged due to the house collapse.
Jake Overton of Overton Contracting is in charge of pulling the crumped cottage out of the water and off the beach.
“We got estimates of debris two miles south of here, so we have crews down there now trying to pull it out of the high tide line,” Overton said.
The owner of The Beach House didn’t want to go on camera, but she was upset by the collapse.
“It’s so sad. This was a fun place for people to gather. A happy place where grandchildren grew up.”
The Seashore said dangerous debris could be present on the beach and in the water at the north end of Rodanthe, and potentially to the south of the collapse.
In order for insurance to kick in, the owner had to let the cottage fall into the ocean.
“Right now the owner he paid us out of his pocket for the deposit because he hasn’t gotten any insurance funds yet,” Overton said.
According to the Seashore, this is the eighth collapse over the course of four years, and the third so far in 2024. Cleanup is expected to begin later in the day through a debris removal contractor hired by the property owner.
“It really is sad … the homeowner asked me ‘can we do something proactive, and the answer is no because if we affect the house and it falls in insurance might not cover it.”
Overton thinks the cottages need to be moved, or insurance should cover a condemned property before the cottage falls, he says the process now doesn’t make sense,
“Let people protect their property. Let it is more cost effective too. Let us tear it down before they are in peril in the ocean … that when we have to clean it up. Cleaning up is not cheap.”
North Carolina Department of Transportation is trying to keep up with the sand. We met Brendan Cameron who was on the bulldozer moving tons of sand.
“I’m just trying to push the sand away to give access to the vacationers who want to get to their houses here.”
No injuries were reported.
For more information on threatened oceanfront structures, click here.