Family Fears Rain Could Force Retaining Wall To Finally Fall

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 NEWS) - Homeowners in north Fort Worth are praying the rain will stay away this week. A retaining wall in their backyard is holding on for dear life. It's a story CBS 11's Investigative Reporter Mireya Villarreal has been following for months.

Heavy rain on Monday is weighing down the soil behind the Irizarry's home. That's forcing the retaining wall in their backyard to pull away from the 10th hold of the Fossil Creek Golf Course.

Golf course reps are now estimating it could cost nearly a half-million dollars to tear down the wall, stabilize the ground, and replace the fixture.

Walking in front door of the Irizarry home, you can see Kristyn and Elias are planning for the worst.

"We have evacuation emergency bags by the front door," Kristyn Irizarry told us.

Their bags are filled with clothes, they have electronic devices filled with important documents, and a stack of irreplaceable mementos ready to go.

"Every time there's even a forecast of rain, it's terrifying because we don't know when it's going to give or in what manner," Kristyn added.

More than two months after the retaining wall in their backyard started to fail they are still fighting to get it fixed.

>>READ MORE: Homeowners Fight To Get Falling Retaining Wall Fixed, Before It's Too Late<<

The family asked Fort Worth city leaders for help.

"Pulte Homes built this wall and built it to fail," Kristyn said at a March council meeting.

"Unite with us to hold those responsible accountable for their negligence. Thank you," her husband, Elias Irizarry, added.

The city responded by telling the family this was an issue the city would get involved with.

"The wall was inspected at stake-out," Randall Harwood, Fort Worth's Planning and Development Director, said. "And then we would have received a letter when it was completed from the engineer saying that it met the standards and specifications."

The I-Team got a hold of the documents Harwood referred to. In them, there's no letter here saying an engineer inspected the wall once it was done. Nor is there any proof in the documents that the wall met industry requirements and standards.

"Especially right now in North Texas, we have a building boom happening and coming on it's like the wild wild west out here," Kristyn noted.

The City of Fort Worth says they only hold records for six months after the final inspection; which is why they don't have a lot on this wall.

Golf course reps say if the wall falls they could take a major financial hit and it would possibly force to close off this entire area. So, they are trying to keep the lines of communication between Pulte and the family open.