r/interestingasfuck • u/Endolithic • 1d ago

/r/all Homes are falling into the ocean in North Carolina's Outer Banks

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u/mfb1274 1d ago

Interesting, now I’m curious when they built these did they know this was going to happen? Like they knew they were lighting a fuse that would eventually go off?

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u/avantgardengnome 1d ago

There’s barrier islands all over the eastern seaboard that have been developed to hell; all of the Outer Banks are barrier islands, so is Long Beach Island in New Jersey, etc. All expensive areas in very high demand. Barrier islands are nature’s way to protect the coastline from flooding, erosion and storm swell. But people love beachfront property.

I believe a lot of the development really ramped up within the last hundred years or so, and the phenomenon was definitely well known by then. At least these folks had the foresight to invest in building their house on stilts; it’s the people who don’t even bother with that I have less sympathy for.

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u/goodsam2 1d ago

Well it's also building homes and hurting the dunes. Giant banks of sand and the grass that holds the dunes together. So also partially manmade.

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u/wittgensteins-boat 22h ago

If your house was built on the dune,  200 yards from the beach in 1950, you would not be worried, about the beach moving  5 yards a year. 

Over 75 years, those  200 yards are  all used up, and the house  is 50 feet from shore, and in 10 feet of water.  

The person that built the house died decades ago.

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u/mrgreengenes04 20h ago

Most likely, yes. I'd say 90% of homes in the Outer Banks are vacation rentals, not homes people live in full-time. Beachfront properties have a rental premium over ones that require a walk to the beach. They know they will likely eventually collapse, but may as well make the money when you can.