Dare County leaders were informed earlier this month that they had not received a grant from FEMA for beach nourishment in Rodanthe.
"We're trying to get with them and say, 'Okay. We didn't get it. Why? What were the shortfalls in the grant? Is there anything else we can show you?'" County Manager Robert Outten told the Board of Commissioners during their July 16 meeting.
During the meeting, the Board voted to move up a beach nourishment project in Buxton to 2026.
These beach nourishment projects pump sand onto the shoreline to make beaches wider and try to address erosion.
Six homes have fallen into the water in Rodanthe in the last four years.
Watch previous:
Rodanthe house collapses into ocean
The most recent one was in May when a home collapsed sending debris into the ocean for miles.
News 3 reviewed the county's application to FEMA which asked for about $40 million to put 3.8 million cubic yards of sand along about 2.27 miles of beach.
The county says parts of the beach are eroding by about 12 feet a year and the sea is rising .2 inches.
Their projections show 47 homes could be at risk of collapsing if no actions are taken.
"It's an ongoing issue and it'll be a never-ending issue," said Rob Young, Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University.
His team studied potential solutions to beach erosion, including beach nourishment.
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"It's expensive and it's never-ending, right? You don't do one beach nourishment and then everything's good. You're going to have to do it over and over again," said Young.
The research also looked into the potential to buy out properties that are within 300 feet of the high tide line and found that 80 meet that criteria.
The estimated cost is $43 million to purchase them at their assessed value, which is a similar cost to the beach nourishment project.
"If you bought out the houses and removed them, you're going to have a couple of decades of breathing room, I think, before you might reach the second row of homes through coastal erosion," said Young.
Dare County officials are aware of the report and cite part of it in their application to FEMA.
They say the beach nourishment project would give them more time to explore voluntary buyouts.
Last year, the National Park Service bought two homes and demolished them.
Watch previous:
Aftermath of oceanfront house collapse in Rodanthe
"As long as sea level continues to rise, this is not a permanent solution, but it's a much longer solution than trying to keep pumping sand in front of those properties on a very rapidly eroding shoreline," said Young.
In a statement, FEMA didn't directly explain why the project wasn't selected but said FEMA got more requests than they could fund.
They said they'd meet with those who lost out on how to improve their applications to be more competitive for future opportunities.
In Rodanthe, it appears everyone is in agreement something needs to be done.
"What we don't want to see is news reports for the next 20 years as house by house by house tumbles into the sea," said Young.
Dare County's Manager noted at their meeting the county will have an opportunity to apply for the grant again.
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