OBX Archives - WPTF-AM

5 homes collapse into the surf of the Outer Banks as hurricanes rumble in Atlantic

Five unoccupied houses along North Carolina’s Outer Banks have collapsed into the ocean. Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda are far offshore but are churning the surf on the U.S. East Coast. The National Park Service says these are the latest private beachfront structures to fall in recent years. The homes that collapsed Tuesday were in the island community of Buxton. Video footage shows debris and entire homes being battered by waves on the shore. The park service warns more collapses are possible. North Carolina’s coast is eroding because of rising sea levels, with 17 houses in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore collapsing since 2020.… Continue Reading

Another beachfront stilt house collapses into the surf on the Outer Banks

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Ocean has claimed another beach house on the fragile Outer Banks. The home that collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Buxton, North Carolina, is the 12th to succumb to the surf since May 2020. An official with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the house was unoccupied. The other 11 were all in the village of Rodanthe, a few miles north. The barrier islands have been eroding amid sea level rise for years. The famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved inland in 1999.… Continue Reading

Multiple people dead after plane crash at Wright Brothers National Memorial’s First Flight Airport

MANTEO, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says multiple people died after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday afternoon in a wooded area at Wright Brothers National Memorial’s First Flight Airport. The crash occurred at 5 p.m. as, according to eyewitnesses, the airplane was trying to land at the airport, the park service said in a news release. The airplane caught fire after the crash, the park service said. The Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and other local fire departments put out the fire. The airport is closed until further notice, the park service said. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration has also been notified. The park service says the Wright Brothers National Memorial will be closed Sunday.… Continue Reading

10 homes have collapsed into the Carolina surf. Their destruction was decades in the making

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A slow-motion catastrophe has been playing out in the coastal North Carolina village of Rodanthe. That is where 10 houses have fallen into the Atlantic ocean since 2020. Three homes have been lost since Friday. The most recent collapse was Tuesday afternoon, when the wooden pilings of a home nicknamed “Front Row Seats” buckled in the surf. The destruction was decades in the making. Beach erosion and climate change had slowly edged the Atlantic closer to the homes. The threat is more insidious than a hurricane. Possible solutions won’t be easy or cheap. They include hauling in more sand or buying out expensive homes.… Continue Reading