Outer Banks Town Losing a Fight With the Sea

On North Carolina's Hatteras Island, "moving house" now involves cranes, chains, and six-figure bills. Oliver Milman of the Guardian reports that with at least 31 homes lost to the Atlantic since 2020—19 of them since September alone—some remaining houses are being jacked onto wheels and towed inland in a last-ditch effort to outrun the surf. Local mover Barry Crum says he's never been this busy, as homeowners pay up to $300,000 to shift large beachfront rentals hundreds of feet back from an ocean that keeps clawing away the shoreline.

"The island is just getting smaller and smaller," says resident Hunter Hicks. "If we don't move these houses we will probably lose 20 more by the end of the year." Scientists tell Milman this isn't just a local drama. The Outer Banks, already losing more than 10 feet of land a year in some spots, is seen as a warning for low-lying communities all along the East Coast. Officials have tried everything from beach renourishment to sandbags to rebuilding rocky outcrops, though experts say such fixes often just move erosion down the line. That leaves the possibility of "managed retreat"—shifting not just houses, but entire communities—however politically and emotionally fraught. Read the full story, which has video and images of one "home move."