BUXTON, N.C. — The sounds of waves crashing, screws being drilled into pilings and debris being picked up could all be heard on the Buxton oceanfront Thursday. On Tuesday, five more homes collapsed into the ocean, bringing the total to 15 in the community and 16 on Hatteras Island this fall.
"Every single morning, I come over here with my heart in my throat wondering if it's still going to be up," said Lat Williams.
A now oceanfront house in Buxton has been in Lat Williams' family for more than 40 years at a time when there were hundreds of yards of beach in front of it. Since 2017, it's also been where he and his wife call home.
"My in laws bought it in 1981 we've had it in the family as a vacation home until 2017 when my wife and I retired early and made it our full time home. So it was full of memories," said Williams.
Williams is now in the process of moving it; he and his wife have not been able to live in it since August. The community has come out to support them during this time.
"We've had three hurricanes and four Nor'easters since mid August. We haven't lived in the house since mid August, it took our septic tank and our steps. The community is so good here because we've got friends. I've had 20 plus friends who came to us immediately and said, we've got a vacation home, we're not using it right now, please come stay there," said Williams.
Williams says it's been difficult to watch what's been going on in Buxton for the last six weeks — 15 home collapses.
"The houses were full of family mementos and stuff, and some of them never got in it to get anything out. I mean, it's been really hard watching all our friends houses fall," said Williams.
"Buxton is a tiny little pocket of really hard working people who are losing their homes. These are not corporate owned mega mansions, that's not what these are. These are people who own their own houses. They visit, they rely on income, and not to mention all the people who work on these houses, the house cleaning staff, the maintenance staff, all those people are really mourning the loss of these houses. This is not an investment that got washed away," said Dawn Eskins, owner of Studio 12 in Avon.
Since the destruction started happening, there have been calls for state and federal assistance. Specifically, those include asking North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein to declare the area a state of emergency and for elected leaders to overturn the no hardened structures on the coast law in the state.
"It's an oversight that should have been addressed earlier. The legislature needs to get their act together and realize that the hardened structures law can have some commonsense exceptions made and this is one of them," said Williams.
Drivers on N.C. 12 can see front and center the call for action in the area—the Studio 12 sign reads on one side "Gov Stein Call 4 State of Emergency" and on the other "How Many Homes Have to Go."
"We didn't have this problem when the jetties were in place. Because obviously they were working before, and now they're not, because they're gone. The whole thing with hard structures, though, really is the basis of the problem," said Eskins.
Dare County has a single jetty repair and beach nourishment planned for next year. But residents still have their sights set on state leaders acting now.
"If we could just get them to come out here and see what's happening, they would get it," said Eskins.
"A state of emergency and a little acknowledgement by the governor, who has been silent," said Williams.
That's a change residents are pushing for that has been too late for 15 houses and potentially more in the future.
