Square Enix is temporarily suspending the auto-demolition of houses in Final Fantasy XIV in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which devastated several states in September.

The developer wrote in a post on Lodestone, "From all of us on the FFXIV development and management team, our hearts go out to those who were affected late last month by Hurricane Helene in
North America. Due to the damages and other factors, we have decided to temporarily suspend the automatic demolition of estates."

Housing demolition is an automatic process in Final Fantasy XIV, and will happen if you don't set foot in your house for at least 45 days. The idea is to give other players a chance to claim the parcel of land, which is a hot commodity in Eorzea. Indeed, housing is one of Final Fantasy XIV's most popular features.

According to Square Enix's post, demolition was suspended in the Primal, Dynamis, Crystal, and Aether Data Center early on October 2. When auto-demolition starts up again, it will resume from the time remaining when the pause took place. Players with estates scheduled to be demolished can cancel it by entering their housing or building on their land.

Square Enix says that it will "monitor the situation in the coming days" and will inform players when demolition is ready to resume.

"It is our sincere hope that recovery is swift, and those of you who were affected will be able to rejoin us in FFXIV soon," Square Enix says.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.