BUXTON, N.C. — The winter storm claimed four homes over the weekend in Buxton and the oceanfront is still covered in what's left of the houses. Every time a house collapses, there's a potential ripple effect on the economy in the area, with business owners telling News 3 they probably won't know the impact until this summer, but it's something on their minds.
"There's no way to put into words to be able to comprehend the loss of economy that Buxton has suffered and will continue to suffer for the rest of forever," said Jeff Dawson, owner of Fatty's restaurant.
Dawson is an eighth-generation native in Buxton and his family's history here goes back hundreds of years. Dawson worries about the economic impact that each house collapse will have on the area's economy.
"You're talking 20 houses, 10 people, that's 200 people a week for the rest of forever that will not be able to vacation in Buxton. That's 200 mouths a week that I could feed every day for the rest of forever, that will not come back and cannot come back," said Dawson.
Debris, belongings and memories are scattered across the oceanfront again this week. Four more houses are gone, making 19 total in the last six months in Buxton.
"A lot of the houses in that row that were lost were locally owned and native owned at one time or another," said Kathryn Campbell, owner of Lighthouse Sports Bar in Buxton.
"Even when they put the beach back and they put the jetty and they make the island stable, they're still not gonna let those homeowners build those houses back. They're gone forever," said Dawson.
It's important to note that these houses weren't always this close to the ocean — most were built decades ago when there were hundreds of yards of beach in front.
"I see a lot of posts about people saying you shouldn't build on the beach, or you should know that your house is going to fall. But it never was like that before 5, 10, 20 years ago. There was a lot of beach in those places, a lot of land there, and it's just not there anymore. So not only are we losing business and clientele from losing houses, but we're just losing land as well," said Campbell.
With each house gone, that's fewer people that can vacation here and potentially less business for the people that call Hatteras Island home who serve the tourism-driven economy. Though the majority of the oceanfront homes are not locally owned, each one has ties to the Buxton economy.
"A lot of people are like oh, they're unoccupied homes, are not locally owned. They don't understand, they were locally built, they're locally maintained, they spend money in local shops," said Dawson.
Kathryn Campbell, the owner of Lighthouse Sports Bar, feels her business might not feel as much of an impact. But she shares concerns about Hatteras Island in general: locals and natives leaving, overall housing costs, house collapses and N.C. 12 road closures.
"I think it will affect businesses economically, but I think also a lot of people might think twice about coming to live here or even coming to visit. Because, what tourist wants to get stuck down here and not be able to get somewhere? While it's inconvenient, we're used to it. But people that don't live here are not used to that," said Campbell.
