Overview

• Five homes fell between 2:00 and 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 30 along Cape Hatteras National Seashore; a sixth collapsed that night and two more on Oct. 1–2 near Buxton.
• No injuries were reported, and park officials said all eight structures had been declared uninhabitable and were unoccupied.
• The North Carolina Department of Transportation closed a section of Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island and suspended the Ocracoke–Hatteras ferry after ocean overwash.
• The National Weather Service logged 8–12 foot surf during the event and says conditions have begun to improve this weekend.
• Officials link the losses to accelerating erosion and rising seas, noting 20 homes have fallen since 2020 and a 2024 assessment identified about 750 at‑risk oceanfront structures in the state with sea level projected to rise up to roughly 35 cm by 2050.