BUXTON, N.C. — Nine homes now in the ocean in Buxton and at least a dozen more remain threatened. Calls for change continues from Dare County leadership and longtime locals in Buxton.
“The swells pulse back in, and it's very concerning, and it's hard to just keep watching it over and over and over," said Brett Barley, longtime local and member of the Buxton Civic Association.
Another day of the relentless Atlantic Ocean battering the homes still standing on the Buxton oceanfront. A beach nourishment project and jetty repair in 2026 feeling like a lifetime away.
“We need to encourage those residents to to sandbag and do beach pushes. That's about as best we can do right now, until we get the nourishment done," said Bob Woodard, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners.
Also, a push from Dare County leaders and the Buxton Civic Association for help from state and federal elected leaders, one specific ask is the no-hardened structures law in North Carolina be removed.
"I think the frustrating part is we're getting more support from our federal government and our local county government, than we are at the state level. On the state level, right now is the biggest hold up in all of this and I say that with the utmost respect," said Brian Harris, member of the Buxton Civic Association.
"One of our local representatives is willing to entertain a bill down the road here, we're having some conversation with him about introducing a bill for hardened structures. We're hoping we can make some progress there," said Woodard.
I showed Congressman Greg Murphy a video of a Buxton Civic Association member Wendi Munden saying that she feels the area here needs to be declared a state of emergency. Murphy shared this.
"I'm happy to look at that. I don't know that it qualifies for that. I'm interested in having that conversation, but for right now, we need to look and see what these homes are, what they're salvageable, whether they need to be taken down," said Murphy.
News 3 reached out to North Carolina governor Josh Stein's office on Thursday and so far have not gotten a response.
Until something can change, the Buxton community sadly feeling this is just the reality right now.
“For now, we're kind of having to learn how to just live with it for the time being, until something can be done," said Barley.
On Friday Cape Hatteras National Seashore employees and volunteers to help in the cleanup process of the area.
“From our perspective, this is an emergency response for the purposes of protecting Cape Hatteras National Seashore and ensuring that we can maximize public access to beach areas. The debris is very hazardous, it's broken up, it's in the surf, it's got lots of nails and screws in it, it's partially buried, in some cases. So this is an important public safety effort that we're implementing," said Dave Hallac, superintendent of the seashore.
Hallac sharing this is a cleanup process that is expected to take days or weeks.
"I think this cleanup is one that's going to take days or weeks, certainly not hours. But we're working as hard as we can. We've got a crew of about 35 to 40 Park Service staff right now, and I'm optimistic we'll make progress over the coming days," said Hallac.
There will continue to be worry on the Buxton oceanfront about more threatened homes potentially collapsing into the ocean.
