HOBE SOUND, Fla. — Neighbors in Martin County want to sound the alarm about erosion along the banks of a canal they said could impact their homes.
Kyle Hilliker from Hobe Sound showed WPTV's Tyler Hatfield how his yard, Hilliker said, is being eroded away by a canal behind his home in Heritage Ridge North.
"We used to be able to walk around my deck and now we gotta swim around it," said Hilliker. "It looks like I’m losing land."
Hilliker moved into his home near the canal with his family seven years ago and he said the erosion is getting worse.
"Anytime you get moving water or heavy rain, you're seeing more and more of the erosion," said Hilliker.
WPTV first met Hilliker when he came to our Let's Hear It event in Stuart.
He told WPTV he's worried his property could be impacted.
"All it could take is one good heavy downpour, and who knows that bank could wash away," said Hilliker.
But he is not the only one.
Jenny Fread has been living along the canal for around 22 years and said she must move her flower bed constantly because of what she sees.
"I’m so afraid that I'm not going to have a backyard," said Fread.
WPTV took their concerns to Martin County, who oversees the canal. The county told WPTV they've reviewed the area in person in 2021 and 2024.
They added they reviewed aerial time lapse photos from 1954 to 2024, concluding there's "little to no change," but will continue to monitor the area.
Fread and Hilliker have both seen the photos and heard the same response, but told WPTV they're still worried.
"I have this fear that if we get really big rains, really bad hurricanes, then it's going to erode more,” said Fread. “And I’m not even going to have a flower bed."
