RODANTHE, N.C. (WITN) – After two days of cleaning up debris from a collapsed house, a small area of the closed section of beach along the Outer Banks is reopening to the public.
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore says an unoccupied two-story house on Ocean Drive collapsed around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The National Seashore says about 0.7 miles of beach in front of Rodanthe Village is back open to the public. However, a quarter-mile section of beach extending from South Holiday Boulevard to the north end of Ocean Drive in Rodanthe is closed.
Visitors are encouraged to wear hard-soled shoes and stay aware of debris. Officials say pieces of debris continue to wash ashore.
Wind, currents, and waves have spread debris along a 15-mile-long section of beach, from around the Richard Etheridge Bridge to off-road vehicle ramp 27, according to the National Seashore.
A couch, furniture, and pieces of home were scattered along the shoreline Tuesday.
The house’s collapse is the sixth house on Seashore beaches to fall victim to the ocean over the past four years.
During severe weather events like the storms Eastern North Carolina faced on Memorial Day, the National Park Service says oceanfront houses are vulnerable to strong winds and large waves.
According to the National Park Service, six privately owned houses have fallen. Park Service officials say four out of the six houses fell within a 13-month period. The fifth house fell in March 2023.
Seashore employees and a contractor hired by the property owner removed 31 pickup truckloads of debris and a volunteer beach clean-up was held on Wednesday.