Virginia Attorney’s Suit Blames City for Hurricane Floyd Floods

A Virginia attorney has refiled a $20 million lawsuit that blames the city of Newport News for flooding during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

The suit is on behalf of residents of the Denbigh area of the city, and follows a recent ruling that dismissed some of the residents’ claims in a 2001 lawsuit. That suit had accused the city of failing to provide adequate stormwater drainage during the 1999 hurricane, which dumped as much as 17 inches of rain in the Denbigh area.

The storm caused the city more than $35 million worth of damage.

The new suit, filed by Norfolk lawyer Andrew Sacks in Newport News Circuit Court and U.S. District Court in Newport News, alleges Newport News acted with reckless disregard when it took “private real and personal property for public use.”

Three area housing complexes were so badly flooded that they “serve as the …. retention or storage pond for the foreseeable overflow of water from Jones Run and Jones Pond,” according to the lawsuit.

The city has argued it is not liable for damage arising from natural causes.

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Information from: Daily Press, http://www.dailypress.com