UPDATED, Thursday 4:30 p.m.: The Island Free Press reports both of a pair of threatened oceanfront houses in Rodanthe recently purchased by the National Park Service have been torn down as part of a pilot program designed to address nearly two dozen homes that are at risk of falling into the ocean along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach.
No incidents of resulting in excessive debris polluting the local shoreline, according to multiple reports. The first house was demolished on Wednesday.
With assistance from the National Park Trust and funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, properties at 23292 and 23298 East Beacon Road were purchased earlier this fall for fair market value using zero taxpayer dollars.
The fund invests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing by the U.S. Department of Interior “to acquire lands, waters, and interests therein necessary to achieve the natural, cultural, wildlife, and recreation management objectives of the National Park Service.”
Many private properties adjacent to the beach in Rodanthe, which previously contained backyard land, dunes, and dry sand, are either partially or fully covered with ocean water on a regular basis.
Since 2020, five privately-owned houses have collapsed in Rodanthe. Four out of the five collapses occurred over a 13-month period of time in 2022-23, including two collapses on the same day in May 2022.
Since then, the Park Service has been working with property owners, Dare County and the State of North Carolina to develop solutions to protect America’s first national seashore and its visitors.
National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent David Hallac held a press conference prior to the demolition to share more details.
