BUXTON, N.C. — Just feet away from the most recent house collapse in Buxton, Outer Banks neighborhood reporter Will Thomas found Barry Crum and his crew working on Monday.
A sandbag project is in the works as Buxton homeowners are hiring contractors like Crum to help preserve their homes from the ocean.
"Things were good for a while, and now things are pretty dire," said Crum, owner of Crum Works Inc.
For Crum this isn’t just business. Work like this can be vital for the future of families' homes on the oceanfront in Buxton. Crum explains the ever-shifting conditions of the oceanfront here.
"This beach was in pretty bad shape, I think maybe 10 years ago, when we put a bunch of bags in back then. We moved a few houses, we jacked a few houses up, and then they got nourishment, the beach kind of changed," said Crum.
A rapidly eroding shoreline is what the Buxton oceanfront is clearly facing now, coming with it many houses that are hammered by the ocean every single day. One way homeowners are able to preserve their homes for now is the use of sandbags.
“We're putting in sandbags to try to protect these houses. North Carolina has a rule where we're not allowed to put in a hardened structure. The sandbags are kind of the exception to that rule," said Crum.
Barry’s crew, on average, can place 40 to 50 sandbags daily, each one bringing time and hope to homeowners. More than 100 are expected to be placed here, coming at a time when the Outer Banks is expected to at least feel some of the storm's effects off the coast this week.
“We've been putting in sandbags for probably most of my life. My dad put in a lot of bags on the Outer Banks, all the way from Nags Head down to Hatteras," said Crum.
Crum says they have also gotten into the house-moving business over the last 15 years. Since 2020, 12 homes have been taken by the ocean on Hatteras Island. 11 in Rodanthe and one in Buxton just two weeks ago.
“There's quite a need, and recently, we've been quite busy doing that," said Crum.
As Buxton braces for another string of storms off the coast, Crum and his crew will continue to be there for the community on Hatteras Island.
“We want to live in a nice community. We live here, I grew up here, and we want to edify our community. We like what we do, we enjoy our work, and we hope we can save people's homes," said Crum.
