The National Park Service planned to begin immediate cleanup operations Tuesday after an unoccupied beach house collapsed during the early morning hours at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
It marked the sixth such collapse of a private home since 2020 at the popular North Carolina seashore, which has been hit hard by rapidly rising sea levels in recent years.
Hoping to stave off additional damage, NPS last year spent more than $700,000 to buy a pair of beach houses that were on the verge of collapse. The agency then had the homes demolished and removed in November.
NPS said the “unfortunate collapse” of the house Tuesday took place at 24131 Ocean Drive in the small town of Rodanthe, likely around 2:30 a.m. The agency closed part of the beach and urged the public to avoid the area.
