Plum Island Homes Demolished After Storm

The winter storm that battered New England's coastline ripped two homes off their foundation and left them partially collapsed into the ocean on Plum Island, off the northeast coast of Massachusetts.

One of the houses on Annapolis Way was pulled partially into the ocean Friday morning after the third high tide during the storm pounded the shoreline. Another collapsed early Saturday morning.

No one was inside the homes at the time.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said the utilities in the first house were disconnected Thursday, anticipating that it might fall into the sea. Its foundation had been worn over by previous storms over the past few years.

Sam Joslin, building commissioner for the town of Newbury which includes the neighborhood, said officials plan to remove three homes before they fall into the ocean, where the debris could wash back ashore.

A total of 12 buildings on Plum Island have been condemned by building inspectors.

The two-day storm dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of New England, caused coastal flooding in Massachusetts, and turned the morning commute in the region into a slushy crawl.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom