More North Carolina Homes Fall Into Ocean Amid Moderate Nor'easter

A rainbow appears above the wreckage of more houses
that collapsed into the surf in Buxton, North Carolina
this week. Photo via Facebook, Island Free Press.

 If you've been keeping track like I have, more homes fell into the ocean on North Carolina's Outer Banks Tuesday. 

One of the collapses was a large green home that has been teetering precariously since waves from hurricanes Humberto and Imelda battered it between September 30 and October 3. Nine homes fell into the surf on those dates. 

Another home was ready to fall because a neighboring one that collapsed on October 18 struck its pilings, making it vulnerable to new waves. 

During a moderate-sized nor'easter on Tuesday, four of the homes fell within less than two and a half hours of one another. The other collapsed late in the afternoon. Winds were gusting to 50 mph and tides were higher than normal. 

A total of 27 homes have collapses since 2020. Fifteen of those collapses have happened in the past month. One in Rodanthe, North Carolina and the others in Buxton. 

Brett Barley, a professional surfer from Buxton wrote on Facebook: 

"The Oceanfront of Buxton is becoming unrecognizable.....As I stood at the end of Cottage Ave. this evening with @danielpullen, neither one of us could wrap our heads around what we were looking at, or had just witnessed this afternoon.

Both of us have grown up our whole lives running every dune of this area, chasing waves & beach days, and Daniel actually spending years living on Cottage Ave, its hard to witness the end of these roads just laid bare, Not just the front line of houses, but now homes that were 2 back and 3 back from the ocean are gone or at water's edge. Not just rental houses at stake, but now main dwellings of locals, or houses of family friends.....it's heartbreaking to see, and a lot to take in & process." 

Hurricane Melissa was passing far offshore of North Carolina today. That storm will probably send more swells into North Carolina's Outer Banks. The swells, in turn will threaten more vulnerable homes. 

Locals are monitoring three homes that look like they will collapse at any moment. 

To review what's happening. Barrier islands always shift, and that's what's happening in the North Carolina Outer Banks. However, changes there are on turbocharge lately because climate change is making sea levels rise and intensifying stories, 

Video:

Clips of some of the homes in Buxton, North Carolina falling into the sea Tuesday. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that. 

Delaware Winter Beach Sunrises Are The Best!

Arctic sea smoke is visible on the ocean just after dawn
December 24, 2022, Bethany Beach, Delaware.

 I'm on vacation in Bethany Beach, Delaware, sharing a big oceanfront home with relatives and friends. 

Among the many perks of this arrangement is winter sunrises over the ocean. 

I'm an early riser, and the sun comes up late just a week after the winter solstice, so I get a great view of the dawn breaking over the ocean.  It's always different, and always sublime. 

The videos, seen below at the bottom of this post, don't do it justice, but are certainly worth watching. (The only problem with them is the sound quality is iffy, oh well).

The videos are still relaxing, so if you want a moment of relaxation, watch 'em. 

The first video was taken Christmas Eve morning, when the East Coast was still in the throes of that Arctic outbreak and aftereffects of that big bomb cyclone.

Sunrise, Bethany Beach, Delaware, December 27, 2022

It was quite cold for this neck of the woods, coastal southern Delaware. Temperatures were in the upper single numbers at dawn. Frigid by Delaware standards, but kind of average "yawn" winter weather for this Vermonter. 

Anyway, as the sun rose that morning, the ocean simmered with Arctic sea smoke, sort of giving me a Lake Superior lakefront in Duluth vibe. 

I enjoyed the sunrises in subsequent mornings, of course. Yesterday, December 27, was much warmer (Upper 20s!) so it was even easier to enjoy the early morning dawn.

There were a few more clouds in the sky than on previous mornings, which made the whole thing more interesting. A sharp red line appeared on the horizon well before sunrise. Then the clouds gradually filled with pastel colors.  Just such an awesome sight.

I'm here for two more mornings.We'll see what those dawns bring!

First video, on December 24. Click on this link if you don't see the image of the video, or click on image below.  And underneath that is the second video.

Next video is a very pastel dawn on December 27 in Bethany Beach.  Click on this link to view or on image below: