Robert Myrick was sitting at home last week when he heard what sounded like a &uot;clap of thunder&uot; in his backyard. It turned out to be a large water oak falling into the bayou behind his house at 8 Cropp Lane.

&uot;It sounded like a clap of thunder,&uot; Myrick said. &uot;I thought we had a thunderstorm coming.&uot;

In the 36 years Myrick has lived on Cropp Lane, the dust-like loess soil that covers much of Adams County has caused numerous trees on his property to slide into the bayou.

&uot;I’ve lost a minimum of 15 trees since I’ve been living here — large trees,&uot; he said. &uot;(That’s) not counting the small ones.&uot;

The bayou that runs behind Myrick’s property drains runoff water from the Seale Road/ Morgantown area to St. Catherine Creek.

And over the last few months, Myrick said the drought has made the erosion even worse. It has dried out the land so much more ground has started to slide down, he said.

And over the years, the edge of the bayou that was once called the Dry Bayou has been creeping closer to Myrick’s house.

A distance of about 16 feet separates the house from the edge of the bayou. &uot;It’s the same problem only it’s getting worse,&uot; Myrick said.

But Myrick doubts there is much he can do to stop it the erosion. He said he would like help from the county or other agencies, but he is not expecting or asking for anything.

&uot;There’s nothing I can do and whatever they can do would be appreciated,&uot; he said.

Brian Stringer of the Natural Resource Conservation Service could not offer many encouraging words.

Although his office gets frequent calls from people seeking help with erosion, there are no funds available for property owners like Myrick.

There are dozens of people with this problem and the service sees scores of sites each year, Stringer said. The service can visit problem areas and can suggest preventive strategies to the property owners to slow down the erosion.

&uot;We spend a lot of time giving advice to people,&uot; Stringer said.

He said he plans to visit Myrick’s property next week.