Recover Damages if You Were Flooded by the Barker/Addicks Reservoir Releases
If your home, commercial property or business flooded after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released millions of gallons from the Addicks & Barker Reservoirs at 2AM on Monday, August 28, 2017, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
- You do NOT need flood insurance to make a claim; it does not matter whether or not you have flood insurance and other claims will not be affected.
- You do NOT need to make a FEMA claim to qualify
- You do NOT have to pay anything out of pocket to file a claim
Continue reading to learn what areas were impacted and how you may be able to recover damages.
AFFECTED AREAS INCLUDE (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO):
- Briar Forest and the Beltway
- Rummels Creek-Piney Point-Interstate 10
- Dairy Ashford-State Highway 6
- North Eldridge Parkway
- Clay Road
- Barker-Cypress Road
- Any/all park and internal roads in the reservoirs (including Addicks’ War Memorial Street, Patterson Road, and Bear Creek Drive)
- South Barker-Cypress Road
- Westheimer Parkway
You Don’t Need Flood Insurance to Recover Financial Compensation for Your Home or Business
Flood victims may have the right to recover financial compensation from the federal government by filing inverse condemnation proceedings. For that reason, homeowners or commercial entities don’t need to have acquired private flood insurance or FEMA flood insurance to recover these funds.
What is an Inverse Condemnation Proceeding?
An inverse condemnation proceeding doesn’t allege that the federal government committed any kind of wrongdoing. Rather, an inverse condemnation proceeding claims that the federal government made the decision to flood homes or businesses in the floodplain.
However, when the federal government does in fact damage or seize land, it’s legally required to pay the property owner just compensation under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
Similarly, if the government seizes land to erect a structure or build a highway, it must also pay just compensation to the property owner.
If the owner did have the foresight to purchase FEMA or private flood insurance, the inverse condemnation proceeding may offer an additional source of recovery and won’t lower the amount paid through a first party insurance claim.
If you don’t have in-force flood insurance, an inverse condemnation may be your only legal recovery option.
What Damages Are Recoverable Under an Inverse Condemnation Proceeding?
Damages caused by the flooding of the Addicks & Barker reservoirs’ release may include just compensation for:
- Costs needed to repair/replace the home or business
- Furniture and other items in your home or business
- Vehicles and other equipment
- Ancillary hurricane or dam release losses, such as chemical or toxic contamination
- Losses from business interruption
- Additional losses to be determined by our network of experts
- Losses derived from equipment and inventory losses
- Furnishings, signage, etc.
Inverse Condemnation Claims and How They Work
In the aftermath of previous natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, inverse condemnation claims were filed. For example, property owners were compensated for cases that involved:
- Temporary flooding of a commercial enterprise, private business, or other private property
- Business’s inability to use groundwater for the purposes of irrigation
- Passage of other governmental regulations that deprived the business owner of its economically beneficial use of property (regulatory taking)
In a regulatory taking case, a property owner may have the right to seek invalidation of subject regulation(s) in addition to its pursuit of claims for just compensation.
Laws and legal procedures regarding these regulatory taking claims can be complex. If you believe that your business was negatively affected by the government’s regulations or processes, you need a knowledgeable Texas property rights lawyer now.
If you were denied just compensation after the government’s taking of your property or your property was damaged by the government’s regulation(s), it’s essential to act as quickly as possible to enforce your legal rights and to meet the Texas statute of limitations that may apply. Our inverse condemnation lawyers will protect your rights—and obtain just compensation.
Start Your Free Claim Now While There’s Still Time
If your home or business was damaged or lost when the Army Corps of Engineers flooded your private property to protect the public’s assets, you can file a claim today.