An unoccupied house was washed into the surf of the Outer Banks over the weekend.

It happened Friday in Rodanthe as the North Carolina coast was still battling swells and rough surf from Hurricane Ernesto.

Friday’s incident marks the seventh North Carolina home to fall victim to rising surf in the past four years. All seven homes swept into the water were in Rodanthe.

“It’s scary and kind of depressing,” said Gus Gusler, a Rodanthe resident who lives about 100 yards from the washed-away house.

Gusler says he hasn’t had to sign leases for his beachfront home for the next two weeks because of the house’s debris. He says every time this happens, it creates a greater sense of urgency in the community that it’s time to move these homes farther from the shore.

“It’s ridiculously expensive and you don’t get any help,” said Gusler. “You’re on your own.”

Gusler said some of his neighbors have spent $350,000 to move their home. He said about 12 homes in his neighborhood need to be moved.

Gusler says moving the homes is worth the cost to protect their oasis on the barrier island.

Gusler and others hope their stretch of beach will undergo redevelopment, but Noah Gillam, Dare County’s planning director, thinks that’s unlikely.

“We have been looking for funding but have not been able to find it yet,” Gillam said.

Because of the county’s plan, Gusler plans to move his house about 150 feet away from the water. He hopes to do that after Jan. 1, 2025, so he won’t have to deal with scenes like these anymore. He said a storm earlier this year washed so much sand under his house that his car was buried underneath and destroyed.

“I wonder if the whole island will wash away at some point,” Gusler said. “I hope not, because the story there with Black Beard and everything else is just unbelievable.”

How much would a beach replenishment project in Rodanthe cost?

According to a study presented to Dare County officials in May 2023, Rodanthe has an erosion rate of more than 15 feet per year.

A beach-filling program would be a possible solution, but it would mean that workers would have to repeatedly cover the eroded areas with sediment. And such a program costs money.

“I think it’s interesting to look at what a beach replenishment project in Rodanthe would cost, which is about $30 million,” said Dr. Reide Corbett, executive director of East Carolina University’s Integrated Coastal Programs. “If you took that $30 million and bought up the houses that were on the vulnerable, Each nutrition project is expected to take four to six years and cost $30 million.

“But if you take that money and buy up the homes at risk, you would buy yourself about 20 years to allow that erosion to occur.”

Dare County officials said they couldn’t afford it.

“So far, we simply haven’t met any of the admission requirements in our application,” Gillam said.

WRAL News asked Gillam why homes that collapse into the Atlantic Ocean don’t fall into the category.

“In the areas where this happens, you typically need a larger tax base,” Gillam said. “Something that will continue to provide funding for the fill projects, and the Rodanthe area doesn’t have a large enough tax base.”