Experts warn of unstoppable force swallowing homes along the coast: 'They have no incentive to remove that house'
Since May 2020, 11 houses in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island have collapsed into the Atlantic, the Island Free Press reported.
In a video by Dare County, titled Erosion in Rodanthe: The Fight to Protect the Outer Banks, officials detail the problem and potential solutions.
"The beach in Rodanthe, while it was eroding, it was relatively stable, and it was wide," Dare County manager Bobby Outten said. "It isn't until recent years that the erosion rate there seemed to have increased rapidly."
Historically, houses have collapsed because of significant storms. But that is not what happened to all 10 of the homes that were washed away over the last four years. As many as 20 more could be gone in the next two years.
The video notes that the Rodanthe beach is eroding by over 10 feet annually and that Highway 12, the only road linking towns along the Outer Banks, is also at risk.
The destruction of these homes creates hazards for people and wildlife as far away as 20 miles and pollutes the environment with debris. Homeowners have been unwilling to relocate their homes because of a lack of options and the cost; they also prefer to collect flood insurance money after their houses have collapsed and pay for the cleanup instead of tearing them down proactively, according to the video.
"They have no incentive to remove that house," Outten said.
Government officials have looked into beach nourishment projects, which have been successful on beaches to the north, but Outten said the $40 million price tag from three years ago was prohibitive.
The National Park Service via a pilot program bought out two homeowners and removed those houses before they dangerously collapsed, and there were others interested, WUNC reported in 2023.
Do you think your house could withstand a hurricane?
No way
Maybe a weak one
I'm not sure
It definitely could
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
"We were able to acquire those structures and demolish them and completely restore the beach area approximately a year ago," National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent Dave Hallac said in the Dare County video. "And now when you go out to those locations, you have no idea there was ever a house there; there's a beautiful, pristine, open beach; and all of the impacts that were occurring there before have been eliminated."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
E&E News
6 days ago
- E&E News
Crews fight to contain Grand Canyon fire as heat, winds prevail
Crews have made gains this week in containing the year's largest wildfire, a scorcher that's burned across Grand Canyon National Park's northern rim and destroyed dozens of structures including a historic lodge. Containment of the Dragon Bravo Fire, now at 36 percent, nearly doubled between Wednesday and Thursday and has continued to climb despite 'strong and unpredictable winds,' the fire management team said in an update Friday morning. But those wins came after a massive expansion of the fire last week, driven by record low humidity and hot, dry weather. Advertisement Wind and extreme heat in northern Arizona continue to stoke the flames.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Hurricane season heats up; danger possible at East Coast beaches
If you're headed to beaches along the East Coast over the Aug. 9 weekend, remain alert for possibly dangerous swimming conditions as a result of disturbed weather offshore. Even without a named tropical storm directly at the coast, waves and swells from distant storms hundreds of miles away can create life-threatening conditions in the water and at the beach. There's plenty happening offshore or nearshore as of Aug. 7 that could make conditions rough in the water, and that may continue through the weekend, said Erik Heden, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City, North Carolina. "Love the beach and respect the ocean," Heden said, borrowing a phrase from Dare County on North Carolina's Outer Banks. On Aug. 7, the National Hurricane Center was watching an area of disturbed weather off the Southeast Coast that had about a 20% chance of developing into a tropical storm and a tropical wave that had emerged off the west African coast showed potential for development. Marine forecasters also were still watching Dexter, the former tropical storm about 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod. And the full moon on Aug. 9 could add to the effect of rip currents and waves. Waters from North Carolina to Long Island could hold a moderate to high risk of rip currents on August 7 and 8, and possibly further into the weekend, Heden said. "Anytime you get ocean storms, whether they be full tropical cyclones or strong areas of low pressure, or an onshore flow you can get rip currents." Rip currents are narrow, powerful currents of water that can form perpendicular to the beach and flow quickly away. They can be powerful enough to carry even strong swimmers away from shore. Unlike thunderstorms and lightning that you can see and hear, Heden said rip currents aren't as obvious and can occur days before or after a storm. Rip currents, rough surf and other strong currents – even at beaches not on the ocean – kill dozens of people in the United States and territories each year. As of July 17, the National Weather Service had reported at least 25 deaths this year from rip currents, including 10 in Florida, six in Puerto Rico, three in Texas, two each in South Carolina and Hawaii and one each in Guam and North Carolina. Another two dozen fatalities have occurred in the surf zone so far this year, including seven attributed to high surf and sneaker waves, the weather service has reported. Storms can be fatal even when they don't make landfall. In 2019, as Hurricane Lorenzo moved northward off the Atlantic Coast, "we lost eight people from Florida up through Rhode Island," he said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parent agency to the weather service, and others have worked to emphasize the risk of rip currents and how to stay safer while recreating outdoors. For example, earlier this year, the National Hurricane Center launched a rip current graphic to illustrate the dangers associated with tropical storms, even when they're long distances away. Over a 10-year period, about 10-15% of all deaths in tropical storms and hurricanes were attributed to rip currents, the hurricane center said. Earlier this year, NOAA launched a new public safety campaign "Blue IQ" focused on hazards in the surf. Staying safe in a rip current One of the singlemost important things to remember about a rip current is that it doesn't pull a swimmer under, it pulls you out away from the beach. So, staying calm and remembering to swim parallel to the beach can help you escape the rip and save your life, advises Heden and many others. One of the newer pressing concerns is an increase in deaths from bystanders who try to help people caught up in rip currents, Heden said. He offers the following additional points for rip current safety. Swim at a life-guarded beach. Always know your location when you're at the beach, so you could tell 911 operators. If someone is caught in a rip current, call 911 immediately. Instead of going in after someone, give them directions from shore, or throw them a floatation device Know the forecast before you get in the water How can you spot a rip current? Heden and the weather service offer the following ways to help identify rip currents: More common near low tide and jetties or piers. Often found in areas where it may look like a good place to swim because waves aren't breaking there. Water might be darker in color, or have a line of debris moving away from shore. Easier to spot from an elevated viewpoint such as a beach access. Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about climate change, violent weather and other news. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Forecasters warn of dangerous beach conditions amid hurricane season
Gizmodo
06-08-2025
- Gizmodo
Grand Canyon ‘Megafire' Explodes in Size and Is Now Creating Its Own Weather
Despite over a month of firefighting efforts, the Dragon Bravo fire experienced a surge of growth this week, doubling in size within just a few days. The northern Arizona 'megafire' is now the largest active blaze in the continental U.S. and the largest of 2025 so far. As of Wednesday, August 6, the Dragon Bravo fire has torched 130,520 acres along the Grand Canyon's North Rim, according to the national wildfire monitoring database InciWeb. This fire sparked to life when lightning struck the area on July 4. National Park Service responders initially tried to manage the Dragon Bravo Fire with a confine-and-contain strategy, but it quickly grew out of control. This week, dry heat and gusty winds stoked another surge of rapid growth, challenging crews already struggling to control the blaze across rough terrain. According to a Wednesday InciWeb update, they have only managed to contain 13% of the fire. The fire was pushing north on Tuesday, August 5, and crews deployed ground and air resources to minimize the growth of this new front. This strategy should drive the inferno into territory where it will quickly run out of fuel, according to the InciWeb update, but high heat and low humidity will continue to stoke the flames through Friday. To make matters worse, the fire is burning so hot that it's generating weather that could help it spread more rapidly. On Thursday, July 31, fire information officer Lisa Jennings told the Associated Press that towering 'pyrocumulus' clouds had been hanging over the inferno for a week straight. These enormous, anvil-shaped convection clouds form when air over the fire becomes superheated and rises in a large smoke column. If there is sufficient water vapor in the atmosphere and the updraft intensifies, pyrocumulous clouds can develop into pyrocumulonimbus clouds, according to the Royal Meteorological Society. These clouds may produce intense localized rain, which would help to dampen the fire, or create downdrafts that spread embers far and wide. They can also generate dangerous fire tornadoes. The Dragon Bravo fire has already destroyed dozens of structures—including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge—triggered evacuations, and forced officials to close the North Rim for the remainder of the 2025 season, according to the National Park Service. There have been no reports of fatalities or damages. Dragon Bravo is currently one of four large, active wildfires in Arizona and one of 42 burning across the U.S., the National Interagency Fire Center reported Wednesday. With wildfire season in full swing, federal agencies that fight wildfires are navigating devastating staff cuts. Under the Trump administration, the Park Service has lost 24% of its permanent workforce, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. A recent ProPublica investigation found that over one-fourth of the Forest Service's firefighting jobs were vacant as of July 17. The agency has publicly maintained that it has sufficient staff and resources to handle what's already shaping up to be an active season, but in July, more than a dozen active and retired Forest Service employees told Reuters the agency was struggling to fill vacancies. Climate change is exacerbating the extreme weather conditions fueling the relentless Dragon Bravo fire, worsening wildfire activity on a global scale. This inferno underscores the risks of weakening U.S. firefighting capacity while failing to reduce planet-warming emissions. At this rate, severe, unmanageable fires like Dragon Bravo are quickly becoming the new norm.
