On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, an overnight storm caused another home to fall into the ocean – the latest collapse on a shoreline where rising sea levels and severe erosion are increasingly putting buildings at risk.

The home at 23241 Surf Side Dr. in Rodanthe collapsed in the dark sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to a press release from the National Park Service, which manages the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The home was unoccupied when a storm brought high winds and flooding to the area.

The collapse is the sixth since May, the agency said. Officials warned that more structures could be at risk of collapse or damage, naming buildings on Sea Oats Drive and G.A. Kohler Court, where another three homes fell into the ocean over a four-day stretch in September.

Park Service officials knew the four-bedroom house that fell into the ocean was likely to collapse at some point, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This particular home, built in 1991, was not the most obvious candidate. At least four other homes appeared more structurally unstable, or stood farther out in the ocean, he said.

“I thought those houses would have fallen before the house that fell today,” Hallac said in an interview. “It’s just a reminder that, especially when we have rough ocean conditions, you can’t predict exactly where you’re going to have one of these acute erosion events.”

The latest collapse is one in a string of similar failures that have become a regular reminder of how vulnerable this stretch of the Outer Banks is to climate change. Seas near Rodanthe have risen by 4.6 inches since 2010, according to a Washington Post analysis. The small community is also home to some of the most rapid rates of erosion on the East Coast.

The changes have upended homeowners’ lives and led some to scramble to relocate their homes farther from the tides, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Others have tried to move their houses inland, but have run out of time. Similar shifts are underway in other coastal communities in the United States and around the globe. But few have become as identified with global warming and land loss as Rodanthe, where the eroding shoreline and human development are in constant conflict.

Each time the ocean claims another home, Park Service officials worry about debris. Mattresses, home appliances, wooden boards and other detritus can scatter for miles and create hazards for people along the shoreline. This time, officials said the extreme weather and king tides had limited their ability to immediately begin cleanup work around the site.

As of Friday afternoon, Hallac said the debris field stretched several miles south. The home’s owner is working with a contractor that is expected to begin tackling the debris Saturday, he said, and Park Service staff will launch their own efforts once the tide goes out and the surf calms down. For now, “there’s almost no beach available to walk on in those areas,” Hallac said.

“The beach in front of Rodanthe is temporarily closed due to hazardous debris,” Park Service spokesman Mike Barber said in a statement. “The Seashore is also urging its visitors to avoid the beach and ocean for potentially many miles to the south of Rodanthe.”