City Failure Being Blamed for Flood

Fallout from Sept. 1, 2000, flash flooding in Prattville. Ala. is being felt this week at the Autauga County Courthouse in a civil trial that asserts the city was negligent in maintaining its storm water drainage system.

According to a report in the Montgomery Advertiser, the alleged negligence led to property damage for the nine plaintiffs in the case, their attorneys said. Lawyers for the city contend the deluge exceeded the volume of water expected in a 100-year flood, and there was no way the city could predict or prevent the widespread flooding that occurred.

"None of us wants to be here," Wendy Crue, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in her opening statement to the jury. "The plaintiffs did everything they could to work with the city about problems of the storm water system. They suffered catastrophic damage as a result of the city's failure to get silt, trees, rocks and cement blocks out of the ditches."

The city wasn't negligent, countered Rick Howard, an attorney for the city.

"The best way we can describe this storm is to call it a monster," Howard said in his opening remarks. "This flood caused water in excess of a 100-year flood. It was an act of God that couldn't be prevented or forecast.

"Yes, you will hear sad stories. There were a lot of sad stories that came out of this flood. But, contrary to what trial lawyers like Ms. Crue feel, not all problems can be solved in the courtroom."

Howard told jurors evidence will be presented that shows more than 8 in. of rain fell in a two- to three-hour period on the morning of the flooding.

The case is expected to continue throughout this week.

Source: Mont. Advetiser