After a quick, torrential downpour dumped over 2 inches of rain onto the city last year, some Westside residents are suing the City of Atlanta over sewage overflows and flooding during the event.
On Feb. 29 the Meghan S. Jones law firm filed the first of what residents say will be over a dozen lawsuits seeking damages for personal and real property and medical expenses.
“Additionally, we are going to be pursuing inverse condemnation actions, because in a nutshell, this has constituted a governmental taking,” Jones said at a press conference on the steps of City Hall on Feb. 29.
The suit alleges the City of Atlanta has not maintained sewer and stormwater infrastructure on the Westside. It also alleges the city didn’t inform residents that the Sept. 14 floodwater contained sewage, a health hazard. While residents reached out to the city and sought relief after the flood, Jones noted this wasn’t declared a flood or natural disaster by FEMA, which changes what aid is available.
“This is not a natural disaster. This is not an act of God. This is an act of malfeasance by the City of Atlanta,” Jones said at the press conference.
Jones said this is the first of what will be over a dozen lawsuits her firm will file. They will be filed by household for residents in West Atlanta neighborhoods such as Hunter Hills, Westin Heights, Vine City and English Avenue.
The flooding and sewage overflow problems are not new for the Westside. Many of the residents spoke at the press conference detailing years of attempting to work with local leaders to explain the stormwater and sewage problems in their neighborhoods and seek resolutions, but each said the problems continued unresolved leading up to Sept. 14, 2023.
On that day, residents of West Atlanta neighborhoods, as well as colleges like Clark Atlanta University, said that soon after the heavy rain started, the flooding became overwhelming.
The two inches of…
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