(Photo taken from www.islandfreepress.org)

Many of you may recognize the house in the picture above. When you are traveling south on Highway 12 heading to the southern Outer Banks it is the first house on the ocean side coming into Rodanthe. You may also recognize it from the movie "Nights In Rodanthe". For many years this house has stood, and remained standing, through many storms, winds and tides.

The house was built by Roger Meekins in 1988 and was considered at the time to be a really large house. It was built to last with the piling driven down 14 feet and set in concrete. At the time the house was built there was 400 feet of beach in front of the house. Time has slowly eaten away that beach front and for the past decade or so the tide has surged under the house, down the driveway and onto Highway 12 during most every storm. After each storm many of the first inquiries are about whether or not the house is still standing.

During the most recent storm (as you can see from the picture above) the ocean washed under the house once again. The high dunes built along the "S" curves north of Rodanthe were washed completely away and the highway was broken up into large chunks. 

Now, Dare County's planning director, Ray Sturza, is in the process of declaring the property a public nuisance. Once this is declared the owners of the cottage will have 10 days to abate the nuisance or make an appeal. To abate the nuisance the house will have to be torn down or moved.  

The current owners of the cottage, who live in Campion, Pennsylvania, say the house is still sturdy and sound despite the beating it has taken over the years. They purchased the house in 2003 just before Hurricane Isabel. The house was formerly a rental cottage but has been condemned and uncondemned several times and can no longer be rented. The owners have stayed in the house a few times in the last couple of years.

Attempting to legally condemn the house could be a lengthy process.

Meanwhile...back on Ocracoke Island...the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida were the cause of this past weekend's storm. We had some wind and rain and some flood tides but it was much worse north of us. There were no damages here that I am aware of. We are still trying to dry out though. Next week is Thanksgiving and it looks like it will be a fairly busy week on the island. If you are going to be here be sure to check out the local shops for those end of the year/holiday sales. Most businesses will close after Thanksgiving week.

If you don't feel like cooking your Thanksgiving dinner...Howard's Pub and Dajio will both be serving Thanksgiving feasts.

I hope everyone...here and everywhere...has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.