RODANTHE, N.C. (WITN) – A house along the Eastern Carolina seashore is left in pieces after officials say it collapsed early Tuesday morning.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore says cleanup activities are starting after a house at 24131 Ocean Drive collapsed around 2:30 a.m. today.
Officials say the home is unoccupied. The picture shared with WITN shows a couch, furniture, and pieces of home scattered along the shoreline.
This morning’s collapse of the house is the sixth house collapse on Seashore beaches 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.
National Seashore officials say they expect home cleanup to start this afternoon.
To ensure safety, officials say a one-mile section of the beach from Sea Haven Drive to South Shore Drive is closed and warn visitors to avoid beaches north of Sea Haven Drive into the southern portion of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge due to the direction the debris is expected to drift.
They warn additional beach closures may be necessary.