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Video shows tragic moment $550k home falls into the sea

Shocking video shows the moment a house on the US east coast worth an estimated $550,000 collapses into the sea in wild weather.

A home topples into the sea in Rodanthe, North Carolina.
A home topples into the sea in Rodanthe, North Carolina.

Shocking video footage has captured the moment a house on the US east coast worth an estimated $550,000 collapses into the sea in wild weather and severe flooding.

According to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore service, an unoccupied home in Rodanthe, North Carolina collapsed as waves lapped at its foundations.

The footage shows the moment the home falls from its legs into the sea before bobbing on the waves.

The beach had to be closed to “protect the public from hazards” including debris that was spread widely along the seashore.

Authorities said a second home on the same stretch of beach also collapsed and that there was the real risk that “additional homes in the area may collapse”.

It follows another collapse on Ocean Drive, Rodanthe, on February 9.

“The debris from this house spread across many miles of beaches before the homeowner, and volunteers in an organized beach cleanup event, were able to remove much of it. Clean up efforts for smaller pieces of debris related to the Feb. 9 house collapse continues,” authorities said.

“Unfortunately, there may be more houses that collapse onto Seashore beaches in the near future,” said David Hallac, superintendent, National Parks of Eastern North Carolina.

“We proactively reached out to homeowners along Ocean Drive in Rodanthe after the first house collapse and recommended that actions be taken to prevent collapse and impacts to Cape Hatteras National Seashore.”

ABC News in North Carolina reports that the state’s coastline is “almost entirely made up of narrow, low-lying barrier islands” and that “hundreds of pricey vacation homes have been built there in places where experts say they probably should not have been”.

Originally published as Video shows tragic moment $550k home falls into the sea

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/technology/environment/video-shows-tragic-moment-550k-home-falls-into-the-sea/news-story/f14e474686fdf4bfb51c1fa5b91c2810