DALLAS — When Michael McHatton and his wife were looking for homes in the 70s in Dallas, they were looking for hills. The couple eventually found the perfect place near Kiest Forest Drive and Kiesthill Drive in Oak Cliff.
"We found this place and fell in love with it," said Michael McHatton.
There wasn't much not to like. There were nice homes in a mature neighborhood with hills and grown trees. It also happened to be along Hardin Creek. Years later, they would learn the creek would become a headache and a point of frustration.
"I think about it all the time. Those trees are going to come down," said McHatton.
He's referring to the trees that are precariously perched on the banks of Hardin Creek. The concern for many of the neighbors has been the erosion problems, which have led to the creek slowly swallowing up their properties.
Antonio Villareal's house is maybe three to four feet from the 40-foot drop into the bottom of the creek. He told WFAA he had to stop working in the front yard.
Families told WFAA the erosion has gotten especially worse in the last three to four months.
"This right here is getting to be very dangerous. That's why I put up lights, so people would know don't go past that," Joyce Jackson said, pointing to dangling lights designed to be markers in her backyard before the steep drop into the creek.
Jackson's backyard is slowly being eaten away. Her fence is exposed and dangles over the edge of her backyard.
McHatton said his home is settling and the doors are sticking, specifically the doors closest to the creek side.
"It's going to be simply unlivable," McHatton said. "It's awful hard to think about paying for all of this."
Jackson gave WFAA a demonstration of how "off-level" her home was, and showed that an egg placed on her kitchen table immediately rolls off.
These families believe the cascade of issues are related. The families told WFAA it's too big and too expensive a problem to fix themselves. They said they have been back and forth with the City of Dallas and Corps of Engineers for months, even years, trying to find a resolution.
WFAA was notified that Dallas Water Utilities is aware of the erosion problem in the area.
The City said in 2019 erosion control improvements were made to one home at 3431 Kiesthill Drive, and that construction at another home in the area is scheduled to begin in spring 2022. Both projects were funded by previous City of Dallas Bond Programs.
The City has been made aware of other properties facing similar erosion issues.
"DWU will use an engineering firm to make recommendations and design improvements to stabilize the creek bank and address further erosion..." read a statement by the City of Dallas. "DWU is currently in the process of selecting engineering firms for the evaluation, design, and preparation of construction plans and specifications."
All of the families WFAA spoke with said they do not have the funds to repair the issues on their own.
Villareal, who is recovering from a medical procedure where doctors removed a tumor from his brain, is concerned that a rain event will threaten his home and the neighborhood.
"I don't want to lose my home to the creek," said Villareal.
The City told WFAA there will be a wait. The design phase for any further work has been funded in the 2021-2022 budget. But construction for those projects won't be funded until 2022-2023.