Debris from a house collapse into the ocean at Rodanthe, NC, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)

25 September 2026

The road to Rodanthe, North Carolina on the Outer Banks is closed today because storm waves have breached it near the Pea Island Visitors Center.

The waves are from a Nor’easter 300 miles out to sea. It’s not a hurricane. Maximum wind gusts are 45-50 mph.

Here’s what the ocean is doing in Rodanthe.

And here’s what that same road looks like in happier times (though maybe not the same section of it).

Highway 12 at Rodanthe NC (photo from Wikimedia)

This is a perennial problem at the Outer Banks because the ocean is rising around the long thin barrier islands made of sand.

The ocean is unforgiving when you build your house on sand.

Debris from a house collapse into the ocean at Rodanthe, NC, May 2024 (photo from Wikimedia)