BUXTON, N.C. — During low tide and a calm ocean, you can truly see the devastation in Buxton after 15 home collapses in the last six weeks. This week, two Hatteras Island residents were able to meet with state leaders and speak with them about the issues here.
"How this can't be a North Carolina state of emergency, I don't know what else we need. We have the environmental damages from the homes collapsing. We're getting ready to have the loss of road. We got a super fund site with petroleum and the forever chemicals that are still leaching into the ground, which is under control now," said Brian Harris, a member of the Buxton Civic Association.
The calls for a state of emergency in Buxton are a frustration I have heard from neighbors here week after week while covering the disaster. Brian Harris and fellow coastal advocate Jayson Collier, with some help from North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey, had the opportunity to go to Raleigh this week and speak to leaders at the monthly Council of State meeting.
"It's a whole nother window that I didn't think we had two or three weeks ago. (Governor Josh) Stein was concerned. Raleigh definitely is concerned," said Harris.
An issue that Harris feels state leaders were aware of, just not how bad it actually is.
"Everyone in the room knows what's going on down here. They just don't know the extent of all of it. They don't know how much more it is than just houses falling. They don't understand just the environmental impact this is having," said Harris.
A big part of the issue is the push for jetty repairs at the U.S. Navy's formerly used defense site that were built decades ago but have been deteriorating for decades as well. Many feel the failed upkeep of the jetties is a direct impact on the erosion the rapid erosion the area is seeing. Along with wanting the state to revisit the ban on hardened structures on the oceanfront.
"We should be allowed to fix them and/or replace them. Up to what coastal engineering and coastal science now knows that they didn't know 50 years ago. It's really just a common sense approach to all of this," said Harris.
Harris feels Dare County has done its best on the issue right now, with beach nourishment and a jetty repair plan in the works for 2026, but has no expectations from state legislators in the General Assembly to address it.
"We don't have time to wait on the General Assembly anymore," said Harris.
Right now, at the state level, Harris feels the 10 elected officials on the council are their best hope for future change.
"The Council of State, the governor, Jeff Jackson, the Attorney General, they're our best hope right now," said Harris.
A new relationship that could potentially be vital to the future of coastal communities.
"We got a long way to go, but the wheels are turning. Buxton is definitely the leading the forefront on all of this, but this is definitely a coastal issue for all of North Carolina, not just Hatteras Island," said Harris.
For now, Harris and fellow coastal advocates plan to keep in touch with the many relationships they've now made at the state level, hoping to put together a plan or presentation that can help show state leaders a path forward on this issue — even potentially presenting it at the next Council of State meeting in December.
"With the contacts that we have, the phone numbers that I got, the email addresses that I got, I don't know if we're going to have to wait that long with all the videos circulating and just the way things are now. I think that we would be able to put a presentation together for them that's actually going to get there sooner than waiting to December," said Harris.
