Terrifying moment house is swept out to sea as Hurricane Ernesto triggers dangerous rip current warnings for millions

TERRIFYING footage shows a house being swept away in the ocean as the effects of Hurricane Ernesto ravage North Carolina.

While Hurricane Ernesto remains off the coast, the storm has caused chaos in the ocean, creating vicious riptides and massive waves that were strong enough to tear the house from its foundation.

Facebook/Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue

AFP

The home was a classic wooden beach house built on pilings to protect it from storm surges, but they failed in the wake of Ernesto’s power when the aggressive tide rushed past the property line.

The home collapsed at Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach in Rodanthe, North Carolina , the northernmost village of the Outer Banks that has been vulnerable to intense beach erosion over the years, the National Parks Service said.

In the brief footage , bystanders can be heard screaming, “Oh my god.”

The sound of waves crashing can be heard in the background while bystanders yell as the two-story house is swept out into the ocean.

Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue warned residents to stay out of the water because the house will likely break apart further.

“Please do not enter the ocean as the debris will be washing around for the next few days,” the first responders wrote on social media .

Ernesto has already caused colossal damage and has caused thousands to lose power throughout the Caribbean .

Ernesto’s high-powered winds and rain knocked power out for about half of Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning.

The territory’s biggest electricity provider, Luma Energy, reported that more than 730,000 of its nearly 1.5 million customers were without power as of Wednesday afternoon.

The islands of Culebra and Vieques, off Puerto Rico’s east coast, experienced near-total blackouts .

STORM GETS UPGRADE

The storm was elevated to a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday morning as it picked up power and speed in the Atlantic.

It was elevated to a Category 2 hurricane on Thursday night after pummeling everything in its path.

Hurricane Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the 2024 hurricane season, which historically begins on June 1 and runs until November 30.

HURRICANE ERNESTO WARNING

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has advised residents on the East Coast to watch out for several live threatening conditions, including:

• Strong currents
• Flash flooding
• Rip tides
• Large swells
• Mudslides
• High winds

Find more information at NOAA.gov .

The hurricane has already passed through the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and several smaller islands.

The storm has brought extreme weather including torrential rain, dangerous currents, and violent winds that left some areas in near-total blackouts.

The National Hurricane Center has warned East Coast residents that Hurricane Ernesto may bring “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” up and down the coast this week.

HURRICANE’S PAST DAMAGE

Hurricane Ernesto reached Bermuda on Saturday and produced powerful winds along with 35-foot waves.

Around 70% of the territory’s 36,000 customers were left without power.

The eye of the storm passed over the west end of the archipelago early Saturday as it moved toward the north-northeast and as of 11 am Eastern Time it was 50 miles away from Bermuda, the U.S. National Weather Service said.

High seas likely reached 35 feet toward the south and east of the island, and 5.5 inches of rain had fallen in the past 24 hours, The Bermuda Weather Service reported.

The hurricane continues to affect beaches along the east coast including New York.

The National Park Service announced that all beaches in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens would be closed to swimmers on Saturday and Sunday with the National Weather Service predicting dangerous rip currents and swells of up to six feet, the mayor’s office said.