r/interestingasfuck • u/Endolithic • Jun 06 '25

Homes are falling into the ocean in North Carolina's Outer Banks /r/all

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u/Mythologicalcats Jun 06 '25

These are the houses my grandmother would stay in, and my father as a kid, and then me with my family as a kid (Not these exact houses but further down the beach). They are very old, as are the towns.

45

u/OrphanedInStoryville Jun 06 '25

It’s almost like some global phenomenon is causing the climate to be more volatile than it was during your grandparents time.

8

u/VirginRedditMod69 Jun 06 '25

Omg whatever could it be? Why aren’t scientists working on this?!

9

u/Impossible-Dig4677 Jun 06 '25

I agree that climate change is causing shoreline damage in many places, but I have to say this is a natural occurrence. Build a house 100 yards from the ocean on a sand bar and in 40 or 50 years there is a chance the sand moves away. There are stretches of shoreline in the outer banks where all the ocean side house washed away 20 years ago. Recently they have started beach renourishment in the more populated areas that has paused the threat.

3

u/AllLurkNoPlay Jun 06 '25

It’s the fucking moon! No moon no tides! No erosion! /s (climate change is just adding to the fact that it’s built on a barrier island which is a big ass sandbar and they move)

4

u/this_dudeagain Jun 06 '25

It's more like the maintenance on these old places hasn't been kept up. Erosion happens regardless.

1

u/Ol_Man_J Jun 06 '25

What maintenance would have prevented this?

0

u/this_dudeagain Jun 06 '25

Nature is always going to win of course but the support structure underneath needs to be inspected often especially on these old units. Replace anything too old or starting to rot/weaken. You can also move the whole unit farther back from the water but most of these places have units right behind them so they can't.

3

u/OrphanedInStoryville Jun 06 '25

My man, it’s a house on stilts in the ocean.

2

u/this_dudeagain Jun 06 '25

So you're saying turn it into a house boat.

2

u/Bluepilgrim3 Jun 06 '25

That’s not a very convenient truth. In fact, I’d say it’s rather the opposite.

2

u/doebedoe Jun 07 '25

It's inaccurate to simply chalk this up to climate change. The outer banks are a set of shifting barrier islands that have constantly moved throughout their natural history. They are effectively sandbars that shift inwards and outwards in the Atlantic over time -- sand errodes from the atlantic side of the island and builds up in the Pamlico sound. Over time, new barrier islands appear out further. The only reason it seems dramatic now is because in the last 100 years we tried to stabilize their location by building huge amounts of infrastructure which never existed prior.

Our grandparents didn't see houses fall into the ocean on the Outer Banks because none of the early homes were built ocean front for tourists in their grandparents time.

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u/Mythologicalcats Jun 06 '25

No shit. But thank you for taking what I wrote (pointing out that these houses were built long before modern comprehension of rising ocean levels and beach erosion), and assuming it was meant in some weird anti-climate change direction.

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u/OrphanedInStoryville Jun 06 '25

Thanks brah! It’s Reddit. Why say anything if it’s not going to be misinterpreted in the worst possible way and start a fight over nothing between two people who actually agree

-1

u/SquirrelFluffy Jun 06 '25

Almost like the climate always changes and we forgot for some reason and are shocked to understand what the ancients knew.

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u/OrphanedInStoryville Jun 06 '25

Bruh the ancients thought you had to cut part of your dick off or god would wither your crops. Keep your ancient magic, I’ll trust modern climate science.

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u/YellowCabbageCollard Jun 06 '25

I'm currently staying in a beach house on a South Carolina island that my husband's great grandmother lived on 80 years ago. Lots of need for beach refurbishment in areas here where his ancestors have lived for over 300 years in some areas. I do agree we are making some dumb choices in a lot of locations with new builds. But many areas are places that have been inhabited and used for hundreds of years.