Five unoccupied homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the sea Tuesday as hurricanes Humberto and Imelda coursed through the Atlantic, stirring up coastal waters. The Outer Banks have seen 17 seaside homes destroyed since 2020.
The destroyed homes, part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, left the beach awash in debris, according to the National Park Service, which manages the coastline. Their loss comes just two weeks after another home collapsed into the sea in Buxton.
The Outer Banks is comprised of low-lying barrier islands that are continually shifting as beaches are eroded and replenished by lapping waves. Over time, the islands have been edging landward, with shorelines retreating by hundreds of feet in some places. Now, higher seas and more intense storms, fueled by warming, are intensifying the threats to coastal homes.
Across the U.S., the growing risks from climate change are driving up the cost of home insurance and even spurring some insurers to pull out of vulnerable areas. In just the last five years, home insurance prices have risen 30 to 40 percent nationally as warming fuels more destructive weather. Rising costs are upending housing markets as homeowners scramble to try to find insurance they can afford.
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