My name is Lyric Vick, and I live with my spouse Jovi and our beloved pets alongside a creek/floodway in southern Ohio. Our home has had its ups and downs, what house doesn't? We've recently run into an issue that is spiraling out of our control and we're struggling to find resources to help.

On 9/20/26, a freak storm spun up and triggered high winds, heavy rains, and several tornado warnings. When morning came and the sun came out, we discovered that severe damage had been done along the cliffside directly next to our property. As you can see in the photos, I had a small retaining wall that marked the edge of my property. The land beyond that where the tree and earth fell away do not belong to me. Erosion along a cliff side creek like this is to be expected...but this accelerated things rapidly.

I called a couple of contractors out the following morning to get a look at what it would take to fix the issue and was told that this went beyond them and that I needed to contact my county or city to redirect the flow of the creek. That the tree and hillside falling now changed the entire flow of the creek and would make any floodwater hit directly against my property and lead to further damage. The contractors said that the work we've been putting in(anti erosion landscaping and planting native plants to absorb water) weren't enough for how serious this was. Not anything that we've done wrong...just too big of a job for two people. These pictures of the damage shown are 10 feet from my backdoor. I can't afford anymore damage. I could lose my home. My spouse's home. My pets' home. Everything we worked so hard for.

I called my local county civil engineering office and was told that they didn't have any jurisdiction over the creek and that they can't do anything for me at all. They also stated that I didn't need any permits to do the work myself, but obviously I lack the heavy machinery to do it. This isn't light work in the slightest. It's so far beyond me, I'm at a loss. The contractors advised me that this could easily be a $50k job, if it fell to me. It could be even more. That's a 15-20 foot drop, it's no small thing to try to fix.

Between my spouse and I, we've made many phone calls and sent many emails. So far, it seems there isn't going to be any help for us. I'm going to continue making phone calls to see if help can be found...but in the meantime, my home can't wait. The rains are going to keep coming and following this new curve of the creek to damage my property. I can't risk the home my spouse has fallen in love with. I can't risk the home my senior pets are living their golden years at. I can't risk the home that we've sacrificed and worked so hard for. If we lose this...there's nowhere else for us to go. We would lose our animals and likely be driven to bankruptcy and be back to homelessness.

Whether it's $1 or $10 you could spare, I would be so very grateful for any and all assistance to help us save our home and lives.

Thank you so much for taking the time read, and please consider sharing if you're unable to donate. It means more than you realize.

Here's my Jovi and I. And I've included a few photos of our dear fur babies too.