San Jacinto River area resident fears home will be swept away

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Walter Shephard thought he had found his dream retirement home.

The 74-year-old veteran bought a home along the San Jacinto River in Highlands.

But now, his home is in danger of falling into the same river he once loved.

"There's nothing that's going to be standing here in this keeps up like it is," Shephard said.

After a week of rain, huge chunks of soil and clay are breaking off his property and quickly being swallowed by the now fast moving river. He says he's already lost about twelve feet of his backyard.

"It's all headed for the river, just like the rest of it is," he explained.

Many of his neighbors have already evacuated.

"I don't know whether I'm going to have to just give the place away," he said. "Who is going to buy it with this situation going on?"

So, for now, Shephard waits, and hopes he won't later find his dream home floating down the river.

"Kind of puts you in a desperate situation and I really don't know what the answer is," he said. "All I know is that to be as old as I am trying to start over again, that's going to be doubly hard."