‘I Was Fighting Back Tears,’ Outer Banks Resident Recalls, As Atlantic Ocean Claims Another House

Recycled Christmas trees are placed on dunes to renourish the beach on January 20, 2023, in Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, North Carolina. The Outer Banks are a chain of narrow, low-lying barrier islands that protect the mainland of North Carolina from dangerous storm surges and coastal storms. ALLISON JOYCE/ACCUWEATHER

Holding back tears and standing a safe distance away, photographer and Outer Banks resident, Jenni Koontz, captured the moment the Atlantic Ocean claimed yet another house in Rodanthe, North Carolina, last month. Just last year, four oceanfront homes collapsed into the ocean along the coastline in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, which is part of North Carolina’s famous Outer Banks. And officials warn more homes will likely succumb to the ocean this year.

“You can hear it crumbling and the glass breaking, and you can hear it just getting ripped apart,” Koontz told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline. “It was really insane.”