It’s been two years since historic flooding filled Fort Lauderdale streets and homes with water, and two neighborhoods believe that the weather isn’t the only one to blame.
Residents in the Ruver Oaks and Edgewood neighborhoods are suing the contractors who worked on stormwater improvement in the area where the flooding happened.
Suing over flood damage
Ted Inserra still remembers where the water came from during the April 2023 floods. He said it wasn’t manageable.
“We had the water coming up from the creek over the embankment, over the curb, into the house,” Inserra said.
Inserra lives in the River Oaks neighborhood, which was inundated with more than 20 inches of rain two years ago. The Edgewood neighborhood also had homes damaged and streets submerged.
Now, residents in each neighborhood are suing contractors hired by the city of Fort Lauderdale to improve stormwater management in their areas.
“At the time, it was not complete and we didn’t have anything in the meantime to keep up from flooding,” Inserra said.
Contractors blamed for flooding
The two lawsuits alleged that the contractors were working on the stormwater project during the flood but did not have temporary flood management plans in place, making the area more vulnerable.
CBS News Miami reached out to each of the contractors and companies listed as defendants in the lawsuits, but has not heard back. The City of Fort Lauderdale is not listed as a defendant in either case. A city spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuits.
“Even with folks that had insurance, they just weren’t fully compensated for what happened to them,” said Warren Burns, the attorney for the neighborhoods.
Burns’ firm represents both neighborhoods. He said the suits can compensate residents who had to pay to fix the damage.
“Everyone knew those storms were coming. Everyone knew there would be seasonal rain events, and you have the threat of hurricanes hitting this area,” Burns said. “And when you have that circumstance, you gotta take care of them. You’ve gotta have a plan.”
Future flood prevention doubts
Inserra said the contractors did finish building a pump for future flooding, but he won’t be convinced it works until he sees it himself.
“Our neighborhood and Edgewood can’t go through again what we did two years ago,” Inserra said. “We can’t survive again like that. The neighborhoods can’t survive.”
Town hall on lawsuit
Residents can learn more about this lawsuit at a town hall on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Courtyard Hotel by the Fort Lauderdale airport.
