Class Action: Houston Owes Property Owners for Reservoir Release Flooding

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Five Houston area property owners are seeking compensation for losses they attribute to the purposeful release of water from local reservoirs during the Hurricane Harvey flooding.

Plaintiffs Val Aldred, Hagan Heiligbrot, William Krell Jr., Beverly Krell, and Shawn Welling say their residential or commercial properties within Harris County, Texas all took on water solely due to the release of water from the Barker and Addicks Reservoirs, ordered by local officials.

They allege each of their properties were flooded with over three feet of water, largely destroying the properties and their contents.

On August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast as a strong Category 4 storm. It meandered over the Houston area for days, dropping more than 50 inches of rain on Harris County in just a few days, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs claim their properties still had not flooded as of August 27, two days after landfall. But overnight that night, local officials ordered water to be released from the Barker and Addicks Reservoirs, flooding properties downstream along Buffalo Bayou, the plaintiffs say.

Plaintiffs say the release was ordered by defendants City of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ostensibly, the release was necessary to prevent the massive amounts of flood water from overtopping the reservoirs and causing more damage than would be caused by the release itself.

However, plaintiffs say these officials ordered the release of water knowing that it would cause Houston homes and businesses to be flooded that would not have flooded otherwise. They are raising claims against the city and the district for nuisance and for an unlawful taking of property in violation of the Texas constitution.

Federal law gives the Corps of Engineers immunity from liability for damages related to flooding. Texas law, however, does not give similar immunity to Houston or the flood control district, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs accuse Houston and the district of failing to adequately prepare the two reservoirs for a severe flood. They say the authorities allowed unmitigated development near the reservoirs, knowing that these properties would be flooded in case of extraordinary flooding.

The plaintiffs say thousands of other Harris County residents suffered similar harm after the reservoirs were opened. They seek to represent two Classes, one for residential property owners and another for owners of commercial property.

They seek a damage award that would compensate them for repair costs for real property, replacement costs for personal property, diminution in market value, mental anguish and emotional distress, lost income, consequential costs such as temporary housing, and court costs, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Derek H. Potts and Andrew A. Woellner of The Potts Law Firm LLP.

The Houston Reservoir Release Class Action Lawsuit is Aldred, et al. v. Harris County Flood Control District and the City of Houston, Case No. 2017-57831, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas.