South Bend area residents serve notices over flood damages
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Thirty property owners south of South Bend have served the city, St. Joseph County and the state with tort claim notices over flooding damages.
The South Bend Tribune reports attorney Charles Rice sent the notices, a precursor to a lawsuit, about five months after record-setting rain hit the area August 15 and 16.
The notices say the property owners suffered severe and destructive floods due to the negligence of governmental entities responsible for controlling increased runoff from a recently completed highway project. The entities, according to the notices, neglected to ensure drainage and sewage systems were able to handle increased drainage.
Rice says the full amount of the owners’ damages totals at least $900,000.
County attorney Jamie Woods says the county has hired an engineering firm to conduct a study of the U.S. 31 project’s effect on drainage.