Rodanthe Pier Collapse: Winter Takes Toll on NC Beaches

WRAL-TV (a subsidiary of a company I used to work for in Raleigh, NC) reports: "A portion of the Rodanthe pier collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon."

"The 80 feet that broke off of the pier was newly repaired from Hurricane Sandy. Another storm badly damaged the pier in December, followed by more damage from high winds in February." The photo above and video below (also showing post-collapse) were taken via drone by Hatteras Island Phantom Photography.

The Outer Banks are no stranger to damage from winter storms and yesterday's collapse was probably caused by harsh winds perpendicular to the pier (from the NNW). Here's a graph from the nearest (operational) NOAA wind gauge, Oregon Inlet:

Notice how suddenly the winds started up and changed directions as the arctic front passed through. This "wind front" could have easily created a sudden surge in water while the wind attacked the weaker side of the pier from nearly a 90-degree angle, pushing it into the ocean. Here's what the winds looked like after the front passed through:

Unfortunately there are no NOAA wave gauges any closer than Virginia Beach so we can't be sure how big the waves were yesterday but it shows they were lower than earlier this week (nearly 20 feet), when the front came through. A local surf photographer described the waves on the Outer Banks yesterday as being as high as 15 feet when he took this picture of a wave at Avalon Pier:

Here's a look at the pier between 1993 and 2014, with Google Earth satellite images. It appeared to reach its maximum length in 2006.

The severe weather also caused other sea-side damage, capsized a ferry, and unearthed another shipwreck farther north yesterday.

The Outer Banks don't stand alone as the only beachfront property to take on a whipping this winter. Near the South Carolina border in Brunswick County, where I vacation every year, houses on Oak Island took a beating from a November storm:

These photos were taken by Diana Strader earlier this month; it appears not much has improved:

Why are these particular houses so susceptible to erosion right now? The town of Oak Island did a great beach replenishment around 10 years ago, but these homes sit at the worst possible place on the island, at the bend in the road where lots were shallow, and were built (in my opinion) way too far out into the beach, compared to other homes. You can see how things have evolved in this animation of Google Earth satellite imagery since 2004: