Video Captures Outer Banks Home Collapsing Into Ocean

Homes are collapsing into the ocean in North Carolina at an alarming rate, and the latest dramatic incident was caught on video. A beach house in the Outer Banks community of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island was knocked off its raised wooden foundation as waves, strengthened by Hurricane Ernesto, pounded the shore Friday night, ABC 11 reports. The home was not occupied at the time, and no injuries were reported, NBC News reports. It's the seventh such collapse along the state's National Seashore beaches over the past four years, per the National Park Service.

Climate change has been blamed for the collapses, with rising seas and worsening storms eroding shorelines, and the debris from such collapses threatens the local ecosystem as well. Ernesto caused dangerous beach conditions and elevated seas in the Outer Banks, which were expected to persist into this week, and visitors were being asked to stay away from the beaches until cleanup can take place. "Many other homes appear to have sustained damages in the Rodanthe area. Dangerous debris may be present on the beach and in the water for more than a dozen miles," the NPS said in a statement. (The service has already bought, and torn down, two houses in the area at risk of collapse.)