Homes on billionaire hot spot Nantucket are falling into the ocean at an alarming rate — but the wealthy won't stop buying

This month, residents of the island of Nantucket, a storybook New England coastal retreat located 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, gathered for their annual town meeting and quietly acknowledged a mounting eco-crisis.

Erosion, which is typical for most islands, is now increasing in severity, threatening to reshape Nantucket's downtown and wash away the homes sitting on its edge. Permanent residents formally approved the designation of the entire island as an "Islands Coastal Resilience District," with hopes that state-backed help could follow.