Houston Chronicle: Hurricane Harvey Flooding Victims Get their Day in Federal Court

Residents and business owners whose properties upstream of the Barker and Addicks reservoirs were flooded after Hurricane Harvey argued in Houston federal court Monday that authorities knew for decades that the lakes would likely not be contained during a major flooding event and did nothing to prevent it, resulting in property damage for which they should now be compensated.

The case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims focuses on 13 test-case properties that the parties agreed upon that were surrounded by rising waters in the wake of the catastrophic 2017 storm. The first batch of lawsuits to go to trial involves what are known as the upstream properties, which were severely flooded as water built up in two “flood pools” west of Houston.