Five Houses Collapse Into Ocean Within an Hour as Hurricane Waves Smash Coast

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It was a bad day for beach houses in Buxton, North Carolina. 

The tiny oceanfront town of about 1,000 people on Cape Hatteras, in the popular Outer Banks region, saw not one but five beach houses completely collapse into the water within just about 60 minutes of each other. Three of the houses were on the same street, but all were within a half-mile of each other. 

Social media users captured the heartbreaking aftermath of one home’s demise, as its once-oceanfront porch floated away and pieces of debris kept slamming back into the elevated home.

Local journalist Sam Walker posted footage of the incident on X, with the caption: “BREAKING: Five houses collapsed over a roughly 60 minute period this afternoon in Buxton.”

BREAKING: Five houses collapsed over a roughly 60 minute period this afternoon in Buxton. Details: https://t.co/12xZl5SWoF [@IslandFreePress video] #yestv #ncwx #obx #Humberto #Imelda pic.twitter.com/QYbrlUSt37

— SamWalkerOBXNews.com???????????????????? (@SamWalkerOBX) September 30, 2025

The Island Free Press reports that the oldest of the homes damaged in today's event is a one-story cottage built in 1970; the newest structure, a two-story, four-bedroom home, was built in 1995.

The damage took place over the course of approximately one hour, right around 2:15 p.m. local time, which marked high tide.

Buxton was facing serious swells and high winds as a result of a pair of hurricanes—Humberto and Imelda—passing the area at just around the same time.

Authorities warned residents that other oceanfront properties could be susceptible to damage, while weather experts in Bermuda, which has been dealing with the effects of Humberto, warned that the worst may still be to come.

The Island Free Press reports that another home in Buxton, on the very same street as three of the houses damaged today, faced the same fate just two weeks ago, on September 16. “There have now been 17 home collapses on Hatteras Island since 2020,” wrote the Press. “The other home collapses occurred in Rodanthe, which includes six oceanfront homes that fell in 2024.”