This house at 46007 Cottage Avenue in Buxton, North Carolina, is one of five that collapsed within 45 minutes on the afternoon of Sept. 30, according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, as rough seas from two hurricanes pounded away at beaches along portions of the Outer Banks.
Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto swirl in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 30, 2025 in this image from NOAA's GOES 19 satellite.

Huge waves and rough surf from two long-distance hurricanes have washed away five houses on North Carolina's Outer Banks, the National Park Service said, with further destruction possible as the ocean batters the coast.

The houses were unoccupied and collapsed within 45 minutes on Sept. 30, along Cape Hatteras National Seashore as a high tide pounded the beach and washed over dunes in Buxton, the park service said. The large waves and high seas from hurricanes Imelda and Humberto are forecast to linger for a few more days.

"Buxton's in a bar fight," said Danny Couch, a real estate agent and former county commissioner who's an Outer Banks native. "The ocean is raging."

No injuries were reported, the seashore confirmed.

Another house washed into the ocean on Sept. 16. The destruction makes 17 houses that have collapsed on the seashore in just over five years, according to the national seashore.

Surf height on Sept. 30 was estimated at 8 to 12 feet, said Tom Lonka, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Morehead City. The surf is forecast to be "extremely dangerous due to large breaking waves" through the week, the weather service said in an evening forecast.

The rough conditions are an "ongoing incident," with further collapses possible, the national seashore said in a Sept. 30 news release.

Videos and photos from Epic Shutter Photography on the Outer Banks this week show the ocean under a long row of beachfront houses.

An entire area of the beachfront is closed at Buxton for public safety, and the seashore warned people to stay away and use caution along the Outer Banks south of Buxton.

"Very hazardous conditions are expected to continue over the next 24 hours and visitors should stay away from closed areas," the national park 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."

Which houses collapsed?

When a home collapses, it creates dangerous conditions, with building materials, glass, air conditioners, and more washing into the water.

The national seashore said the following houses collapsed: 46001, 46002, and 47007 on Cottage Avenue and 46209 and 46211 on Tower Circle Road.

Some of the homes that have collapsed over the past two years were once a few houses back away from the beach, but the dynamic nature of the barrier islands and rising sea levels have severely eroded sections of the beach. Local officials, property owners, and insurance companies have wrangled for years over how to handle the condemnation and removal of homes and over the best way to address the erosion itself.

Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, covers climate change, weather, the environment and other news. Reach her at dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Homes collapse as waves from hurricanes Imelda, Humberto slam North Carolina's Outer Banks

Reporting by Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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