The recent snowstorm that brought historic snowfall, gusty winds, and high tides to North Carolina’s coastal region, including the Outer Banks, has caused renewed concern for North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, after four more houses in Buxton collapsed into the ocean as a result of the storm.
“I was on the phone last night with a business owner and lifetime resident whose family settled that area of the Outer Banks, and there’s some angry people out there because, as you know, we’ve had four houses collapse and fall in the ocean in the past 24-36 hours. And that makes a total of 31 that have collapsed since 2020, and Highway 12 is still closed,” he told Council of State members at their Tuesday meeting in Raleigh. “They can’t get to the businesses, and I don’t have a solution. But I listen to the folks, and these folks that have lived there all their life have a lot of suggestions. The complaints that I heard are the same that you’ve heard. There’s been too much finger pointing with all the multiple agencies involved, several governmental, state park system, the environmental groups, and on down the list.”
Causey said what is happening is both an economic and an environmental nightmare.
Both he and Gov. Josh Stein sent a letter in November calling on Congress to pass HR 3161, the Preventing Environmental Hazards Act of 2025, a bill co-introduced by US Rep. Greg Murphy, R-NC3.
“When these houses collapse, it isn’t just a tragedy for the homeowners,” Stein, a Democrat; and Causey, a Republican, said in a joint statement. “The destroyed houses also spread debris for miles, and risk people’s safety on our beaches. We respectfully urge the House Financial Services Committee to advance and Congress to pass H.R. 3161. The State stands ready to work with you to protect coastal communities, taxpayers, and our treasured Outer Banks.”
HR 3161 would help the state move from a stance of after-the-fact cleanup to proactive relocation or removal of oceanfront structures that are under threat. The bipartisan bill would authorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to offer pre-collapse coverage, allowing homeowners to demolish or relocate condemned structures before they collapse into the ocean.
There are also concerns about the environmental impacts of the collapsed homes, including waste and chemicals from septic systems, air conditioning units, carpeting, lumber, and other materials.
The recommendation aligns with a key idea from a joint report by the National Park Service (NPS) and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), released in August 2024.
Causey told Carolina Journal in November that he thinks it is a crisis for the people who live and work there.
“There’s not been enough attention paid to it in my opinion,” he said. “It is a huge issue not only for the Outer Banks and their local economy, but really for the whole state because Dare County, Hatteras Island, the National Seashore, the whole Outer Banks is a top tourist area. It’s in the billions of dollars in what that area contributes to our state’s economy.”
And it’s not just the housing situation. The overwash on Highway 12 is also causing issues, including children missing school, arriving late, or being dismissed early.
Causey said on Tuesday that acknowledgement of the problem, emergency measures to “stop the bleeding,” and installing artificial reefs to energize the ocean were the top three requests of residents and business owners, along with the creation of two inlets.
“What they’re telling me is there needs to be two inlets, one between Avon and Buxton with a bridge, and one between Frisco and Hatteras with the bridge, like when the hurricane cut that small inlet, we built the Lego Bridge,” he said. “That was a game changer. That’s now the biggest land area, and they’re also complaining that the dunes that are in front of Highway 12 to stop the overwash are actually creating a problem, and that there was three feet of sand dumped on Highway 12 with this last storm. They have a long list, and I think those people deserve to be heard.”
Climate change and the rise in sea level have been cited as reasons for the changes, but Causey said in his November interview with CJ that one business owner he spoke with believes it is a man-made issue.
“He was talking about when the Navy first installed the jetties, there was a lot of controversy then, and that was probably over 60 or 70 years ago. It may have helped for a little while, but they have since deteriorated, and that caused further erosion on the beaches,” he told CJ. “He was telling me that the folks that settled there all had stories of every time there was a shipwreck, the hulls of those ships automatically created sandbars, and in his opinion, all of the money that’s been spent on building up sand dunes to protect Hwy. 12 has really been detrimental because it’s increased the erosion of the sand. In his view, it would be better just to let the water overwash (Highway)12 because he felt like that would build up more sand further out to protect it.”