As Hurricane Ernesto swept along the North Carolina coast on Friday, a beach house was washed away and carried out to sea.
The house collapsed on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Rodanthe, the northernmost village on the Outer Banks, which has been subject to severe beach erosion over the years, the National Parks Service said.
A wild video shows the brown, two-story house being pulled into the surf as Ernesto stirs up the water.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God!” someone can be heard exclaiming in the footage.
The house was an elevated beach house built on stilts, but it collapsed when the strong tide surged over the property line.
Debris that had been torn from the house floated next to it, and most of it was spat back onto the shore.
Wooden boards and other parts of the destroyed dwelling lay hundreds of meters in the sand after the collapse, but experts suspect that most of the rubble was washed more than 20 kilometers out to sea.
However, with Ernesto expected to strengthen over the weekend, authorities believe the lost house will not be the only one to fall into the Atlantic.
“Throughout Rodanthe, numerous additional homes are at risk of collapse over the next few days. Ernesto’s swell is expected to peak Saturday and Sunday,” said Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Emergency Services officials.
“We have a tough weekend ahead of us. Please heed the warnings and do not go into the sea.”
Fortunately, no one was in the house and no injuries were reported.
The lost house is the seventh to collapse on Seashore beaches in the past four years, including two on the same day in May 2022.
According to the NPS, the accelerated coastal loss is attributed to wind, waves and tides, as well as rising sea levels and storms.
Severe weather events like Ernesto, which are normal year-round in the Outer Banks, severely damage already vulnerable homes and cause them to collapse.
Access to the beach has been closed as authorities wait for the remaining debris – and possibly that of houses that have not yet collapsed – to wash up. Ernesto will also bring strong currents.
