New drone and lidar data show just how dramatically the shoreline shifted in Buxton after a week of homes collapsed on Hatteras Island, where nine oceanfront houses crumbled into the surf amid back-to-back storms.
Researchers with RCOAST, a coastal resilience startup based in North Carolina, mapped the area last week using 3D scanners and drones. Preliminary analysis found the average shoreline retreat was 68 feet, with some stretches losing up to 141 feet of beach. 3D mapping shows overwash from the storms pushed sand as far as 298 feet inland.
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“This beach was already weak after Hurricane Helene, and these new storms hit before it had time to recover,” said Christy Swann, co-founder of RCOAST. “We’re quantifying exactly how much sand and structure we’ve lost — not just the distance, but the volume — so communities can make smarter decisions moving forward.”
The team’s goal is to build a national database tracking how storms reshape coastlines and how well mitigation measures hold up. “Last year, the U.S. spent $182 billion responding to coastal disasters,” Kelly said. “That’s why we’re creating data that shows what’s working, and what’s not, so we can be more effective in protecting people and property.”
The nine homes that fell, eight in Buxton and one in Rodanthe, were built between 1973 and 1998 and had a combined assessed value of more than $5 million, according to Dare County officials.
During Monday’s commissioners’ meeting, Chairman Bob Woodard said seven of the eight Buxton homeowners have already hired private contractors to handle debris removal. Over the weekend, about 40 National Park Service employees, many volunteering their time during the federal government shutdown, helped haul away roughly 140 truckloads of debris from the beach.
Scientists say the collapses in Buxton are a symptom of deeper, long-term changes. Reide Corbett, executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute, said erosion in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe has held steady at 10 to 15 feet per year for decades, but rising seas have made the problem worse.
“Today, compared to when many of these houses were built, we have an extra foot of sea level,” Corbett said. “Maybe that doesn’t seem like much, but you put a storm on top of that and you're seeing water today where you weren’t seeing water 20 years ago.”
The damage extends beyond collapsed homes. Debris fields now stretch for miles, including household waste, lumber, insulation and septic tanks that can leak pollutants into the ocean.
“Those wastewater tanks are very obvious when these homes fall in,” Corbett said. “But the impacts start well before they collapse. That’s something we need to recognize.”
Corbett and other coastal scientists say the Outer Banks are a warning for other communities.
“We need to be a bit more proactive in how we’re managing our coasts,” Corbett said. “This isn’t just the Outer Banks. It’s happening across the country. We have a lot of policies that don’t make it easy to be proactive.”
Cleanup in Buxton is expected to continue through the week as Dare County contractors haul debris from Old Lighthouse Road to nearby landfills. Crews are working quickly ahead of another round of king tides and a coastal low expected to bring strong winds, heavy surf and flooding this weekend. The system could cause additional beach erosion, overwash on Highway 12 and possibly more home collapses.
The picture on the left shows a stretch of Buxton homes on Sept. 29, 2025. The picture on the right shows the same stretch of Buxton homes on Oct. 3, 2025. Several Outer Banks homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean due to dangerous surf conditions brought on by Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto as they passed offshore. Click or tap on the slider tool in the middle of the picture to see the before and after perspectives.