Posted on September 16, 2024
BUXTON, N.C. — Lat Williams has enjoyed his home here for 45 years and, after retiring, lives here full-time.
“This is a unique place,” Williams told News 3 recently. “You’ve got history. You’ve got nature. You’ve got sunset and sunrise every day. It’s just a really, really super place to live.”
The coastline along the village on Hatteras Island has changed over the years, including recently when rough surf and winds pounded the shore.
“We’re going to naturally have some erosion. It’s barrier island, a sand bar basically,” said Williams.
Dare County leaders have used beach nourishment projects to try widening the beaches along the Outer Banks.
A project was done in 2022, and they’re now moving up a maintenance project in Buxton to 2026 from 2027. There will also be nourishment in Avon.
“We’ve had more erosion there than we anticipated,” said Bobby Outten, the Dare County manager.
Outten says once they do a nourishment project, they have to follow through every four or five years. The main goal is protecting North Carolina Highway 12 (NC12).
“It’s important to keep Highway 12 open for all the reasons you need a road: fire protection, your ambulances, to get to the doctor, to do your grocery shopping – all those things you gotta do to live your life,” said Outten.
Meanwhile, beach access at the end of Old Lighthouse Road remains closed due to a petroleum leak at the former military facility located there.
Past storms and erosion have exposed the leak, but the Army Corp of Engineers is still working to find the exact source of it.
The county also wanted to do a nourishment project in Rodanthe, but FEMA did not choose their application for a $40 million grant. Homes have continued to fall into the ocean there, but Outten says the county is re-applying.
“There’s no other tool to protect beaches and protect infrastructure in North Carolina. You can’t use any hardened structures, so the only tool is to do beach nourishment,” said Outten.
He says the cost of building new bridges or moving back structures would be very steep, with each bridge costing $200-300 million.
Still, the permitting for the 2026 nourishment is moving forward.
In the meantime, homeowners can use sandbags and push the sand back towards the beach.
Williams is hopeful the beach nourishment will help preserve his piece of paradise.
“The trade-off is it’s remote and we get some pretty rough weather from time to time, but when it’s nice, it’s beautiful,” he said.
