Unoccupied Buxton Cottage Collapse Marks 11th Hatteras Island Home Loss

An unoccupied oceanfront cottage in Buxton collapsed into the Atlantic around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore said, marking the 11th home to fail on Hatteras Island since mid-September. The single-family house at 46006 Cottage Avenue tumbled during a period when the National Weather Service had issued a flood advisory and warned of large ocean swells and prolonged overwash.

Park officials said the 1956 cottage, valued at about $500,000 according to Zillow property records, was purchased by the current owner in May. It was the fourth house on Cottage Avenue to collapse since Sept. 30. Officials identified other recent collapses this year on G.A. Kohler Court in Rodanthe and Tower Circle Road in Buxton. In total, the National Park Service says 22 homes have collapsed on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore since 2020, and dozens more remain vulnerable in the two villages.

The Park Service has closed two sections of beach for public safety as crews contend with unstable shorelines and scattered debris. Officials noted that debris from collapsed structures, including wood filled with nails, commonly drifts long distances and washes ashore on protected...