Federal Court Rules Government Liable for Hurricane Harvey Flooding

A federal appeals court has ruled the U.S. government is liable for Hurricane Harvey's flood damage to homes located upstream of Houston's Addicks and Barker dams in 2017. A three-judge panel unanimously found the government knew, or should have known, that the construction of the dams would cause damage to private property. Daniel Charest, a partner with the law firm of Burns Charest representing the homeowners, stated the appeal benefits the six claimants in test cases but creates a pathway for thousands more claims: 'The heavy lifting of trying to figure out what the law is and how the law applies to the facts at hand got done. And so, the rest of the claimants can walk through this beachhead... to move forward with their claims.' The government may appeal to the full Federal Circuit for an en banc hearing or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling could enable thousands of Harvey victims to pursue claims through a consolidated case, though the statute of limitations has expired for individual lawsuits.