Outer Banks house collapses into the sea, beaches closed as Hurricane Ernesto whips up ‘life-threatening’

An empty beach house on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, situated along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, was swept into the sea as Hurricane Ernesto lashed the U.S. East Coast.

On Sunday, seashore officials warned the public to steer clear of beaches in certain areas of Rodanthe village, where the turbulent surf had inflicted “substantial damage” to several oceanfront properties.

“Debris from the collapsed home has been spotted up to approximately 11 miles [17.7 kilometers] north of the collapse site,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore announced in a Facebook post.

The beach remains closed, and the full scope of the destruction is still being assessed.

Officials also advised residents of Buxton Beach, located 40 kilometers away, to stay out of the water after discovering “hazardous debris,” including “compromised septic systems,” that had broken off from homes and washed into the surf.

Residents were urged to avoid the water due to “life-threatening” surf conditions.

Debris clean-up is expected to take place over the next several days.

The beachfront home, built in 1973, collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean, contributing to severe beach erosion and property damage, though no injuries were reported. Officials have cautioned that conditions remain perilous.

Outer Banks :

Previously, Ernesto battered the northeastern Caribbean as a Category 1 hurricane, leaving tens of thousands without water in Puerto Rico. It then moved toward Bermuda, bringing heavy rain and strong winds before weakening to a tropical storm on Saturday.

As Ernesto churned further into the northeastern Atlantic on Sunday, it regained hurricane strength, sending powerful swells crashing along the East Coast.

Rip currents associated with the storm have already claimed one life and prompted numerous rescues.

Forecasters, citing local emergency management, reported that a 41-year-old man drowned on Saturday in a rip current at Surf City, North Carolina.

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Two men drowned in separate incidents on Friday at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, though it’s unclear whether rip currents were involved, according to The Island Packet of Hilton Head, which cited a lifeguard services spokesperson.

At Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey, a fisherman was washed off the north jetty on Saturday but was quickly rescued by lifeguards. The victim sustained knee and back injuries, as well as a possible concussion, and was transported to a hospital, according to Lifeguard Chief Doug Anderson of NJ Advance Media. At least five others were also rescued by lifeguards.

In Ventnor, located to the south, Senior Lieutenant Meghan Holland of the city beach patrol reported that eight people were rescued.

A warning has been issued from Florida up to the Boston area and portions of Maine.

Mount Holly, New Jersey, meteorologist Mike Lee noted that rip currents become more frequent and dangerous during periods of high risk, posing a threat to all swimmers, not just novices.

“It’s going to be really dangerous out in the water today,” he said.

On New York’s Long Island, East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said beaches were closed to swimmers on Saturday and Sunday because high tides had pushed water up to the base of the dunes, making it impossible to sit on the beach.

Many people watched the waves from the parking lot on Sunday, he added.

“It’s quite a sight to see the water coming up almost to the parking lot, and if you think about it, that storm was hundreds of miles offshore, so it must have been quite powerful,” he said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Ernesto’s maximum sustained winds were 120 kilometers per hour, just barely holding on to Category 1 status.

The hurricane center predicted further strengthening before Ernesto weakens to a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday.

The storm is expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late Monday and early Tuesday.

Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are expected to persist in the Bahamas, Bermuda, the East Coast, and the Canadian Atlantic coast over the next few days, the hurricane center warned.

The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the Atlantic Coast through Monday evening, stating that they “can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.”