Overview
- The National Park Service reports four unoccupied houses in Buxton fell during Winter Storm Gianna, raising the total to 31 private homes lost along Cape Hatteras National Seashore since 2020.
- No injuries were reported, with officials attributing the failures to accelerated coastal erosion driven by high winds, heavy surf and significant snowfall.
- Cape Hatteras National Seashore has closed the beachfront across Buxton and warned the public to avoid hazardous debris from collapsed structures and damaged septic systems.
- Dare County plans a beach nourishment project for late spring or early summer as its primary available tool, with seawalls and other hardened structures prohibited under North Carolina law.
- Limited buyouts and demolitions have removed some high-risk homes, proposed legislation to allow pre-collapse flood insurance payouts has not advanced, and many vulnerable houses date to the 1970s–1990s.