Storm surges from Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda have toppled at least six beach houses in North Carolina, according to reports from the area.
Five of the homes, all built on stilts near the sand, were destroyed in Buxton, North Carolina, which is part of the Outer Banks, on Tuesday.
All five homes fell within 45 minutes of each other, according to USA TODAY. A sixth house fell later that night.
No one was hurt as all of the homes were empty at the time they fell.
A house in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, collapses into the sea as Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda churn in the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. East Coast. Six homes collapsed along the shoreline on September 30 (Straight Arrow News)
Video captured at the scene showed one of the homes swaying as storm waters churned below its primary structure. The house continued to sway until pieces began breaking off from the structure. It ultimately collapsed into the water.
Another video showed a home falling straight down before breaking apart in the waves.
“Buxton’s in a bar fight,” Danny Couch, a real estate agent and former county commissioner from the Outer Banks, told USA TODAY. “The ocean is raging.”
The six homes aren’t the first to succumb to the waves this year. On September 16 another house was washed into the ocean.
Altogether, 18 homes have collapsed along the Outer Banks. In total, 18 homes have fallen in the region this year.
Both Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto avoided making landfall as they churned up the East Coast of the U.S. However, even without landfall, hurricanes can still produce damaging, dangerous winds and storm surges. In this case, the storms were close enough to land to cause severe flooding of coastal regions and topple homes.
On the day the homes fell, the surf height was estimated at approximately 8 to 12 feet, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Lonka, who spoke to USA TODAY.
He said the large waves are expected to continue for the next few days, and said the surf is going to be “extremely dangerous due to large breaking waves” throughout the week.
Further collapses are possible as the waves continue to pound the region.
Officials with the National Parks Service, which manages the Cape Hatteras Seashore, warned visitors and residents to avoid the collapse sites.
“Very hazardous conditions are expected to continue over the next 24 hours and visitors should stay away from closed areas,” the park officials said. “Seashore visitors are urged to stay away from the collapsed house sites and to use caution for miles to the south of the sites, due to the presence of potentially hazardous debris.”
