Nor’easter Threatens Outer Banks Homes on Verge of Collapse—and ‘Another 100’ Could Be Next

An early-season nor'easter is pounding a stretch of North Carolina’s Outer Banks where dozens of homes are already threatened by the advancing ocean—and officials warn the next row may not be far behindOn Thursday, Cape Hatteras National Seashore closed the beach from the northern edge of Rodanthe to the town’s pier because “multiple threatened oceanfront structures pose risks to public safety,” according to the National Park Service.For locals, it’s an all-too-familiar scene. Since 2020, 32 homes have collapsed, as erosion has steadily redrawn the shoreline.The losses have been concentrated around Rodanthe and Buxton, two small villages on Hatteras Island, one of the narrow barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks. At a state meeting last November, officials said they were tracking 100 threatened structures in the two towns, and warned more could follow.“If every one of those structures falls in,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac said, “there would be another 100 right behind them.”Years of erosion have put more homes at the water's edgeAlready, at least five more homes have collapsed since Hallac’s warning, according to NPS records. And the latest st...