House collapsed in the ocean at Rodanthe, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)

21 October 2026: Part 2 of The Ocean is Unforgiving When You Build Your House on Sand

When I was a teenager my family used to vacation on the beach at Nags Head, North Carolina in cottages across the road from Jockey’s Ridge sand dunes. Fifteen years later when my husband and I visited Nags Head, the ocean was closer to the road, the beach was narrow, and the cottages were gone.

I wasn’t there to see what happened to those cottages. Were they demolished and carted away before the ocean took them? Or was it like this episode in Rodanthe in which a fully furnished house collapsed into the sea?

Notice the furniture in the debris field. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Identifiable debris associated with house collapse, Rodanthe, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)

Because this is a National Seashore, the National Park Service collects the debris …

Collecting debris associated with house collapse, Rodanthe, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)

… and loads it up to cart it away.

Loading debris to haul away from house collapse, Rodanthe, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)

Why do owners leave their houses fully furnished and just let them collapse into the ocean? NPR explains in this 9 minute video.

So, yes, these houses were built on sand but they were built far from the ocean. The ocean has come to meet them. 50 years ago the ocean was rising at 1.5 to 2.3 mm (0.06 to 0.09 inches) per year, but the rate of sea level rise is increasing. In 2023 it rose 7.6 mm (0.3 inches).

While a few millimeters of sea level rise per year may seem small, scientists estimate that every 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) of sea level rise translates into 2.5 meters (8.5 feet) of beachfront lost along the average coast. It also means that high tides and storm surges can rise even higher, bringing more coastal flooding, even on sunny days. In a report issued in February 2022, U.S. scientists concluded that by 2050 sea level along U.S. coastlines could rise between 25 to 30 centimeters (10 to 12 inches) above today’s [August 2022] levels.

Alas, as NPR points out, FEMA flood insurance requires damage before it’ll pay out. So we pay twice. (1) FEMA insurance payout to the owner and (2) labor and expense to clean up the beach and haul away the debris.