Houston Chronicle by Erica Grieder 12/21/2019
No one should buy a home in the greater Houston area without being familiar with its flood risk.
But many people, over the years, have done just that.
On Tuesday, Judge Charles F. Lettow of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers is liable for damages caused by its decision to retain floodwaters upstream of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
The amount of those damages has yet to be determined, but attorneys for the plaintiffs estimate that it could exceed $1 billion. Evidence on the subject will be presented at a hearing set for next month.
The federal government is also facing a separate lawsuit from property owners downstream of the dams, whose properties flooded when the Corps subsequently decided to release storm water from both reservoirs, as the water levels continued to mount.
The Corps’ decision was a reasonable one, by all accounts, intended to protect downtown Houston from more catastrophic damage. But the initial move to release water into the communities near the reservoirs resulted in the flooding of 10,000 to 20,000 properties upstream of the dams. The residents and property owners who brought suit argued that this was tantamount to a “taking†for a public purpose — in this case using their properties for water storage — for which they are entitled just compensation under the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
What would ultimately give us all more cause to celebrate would be for local leaders to be forthcoming and realistic about such risks before signing off on further floodplain development.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/grieder/article/Judge-s-ruling-in-Harvey-flooding-case-holds-14923326.php
