North Austin neighbors consider lawsuit against city

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A group of neighbors in the Little Walnut Creek area of north Austin said they are frustrated with the lack of communication from the city and are strongly considering a lawsuit after their homes were damaged in a flooding event.

"It's easy to come here and see the damages and walk away and live your own life as the city. But we're stuck here," Dustin Grant, one of the homeowners, said. "We live this every day."

Grant said his home received about $150,000 of damage. His backyard fence was pushed down by rushing flood waters, his floor had to be ripped up after three inches of water got into the house, and he is now using his camping gear as a makeshift kitchen until his house is fixed.

He is one of the 60 homes that were damaged during an April 20 storm. He and his neighbors spoke to the city council during a May 4 city council meeting, where the director of the Watershed Protection Department said debris from the winter storm in early February created a clog in a storm culvert, which "exacerbated" the flooding that night. WPD had not been out to the area to do vegetation control since December, according to the department director.

Grant and his neighbors said there had been a lack of communication from the city ever since the storm, but the city said it has been communicating with residents.

The city provides a response to storm

During the May 4th city council meeting, the council approved a resolution to direct the city manager to identify resources and strategies to assist the homeowners. The resolution asked the city to report back with those strategies by May 30.

The city posted its response on June 2. It said there was no traditional way to access financial resources from governmental entities because there was no declaration of disaster issued for the storm.

The response said staff shared information with residents about the city's claims process. It also said the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management went door-to-door on May 5 to talk with residents about how they could apply for low-interest loans through the Small Business Administration.

Neighbors said they did see HSEM staff going door-to-door, but they do not agree with the claim that staff was sharing information on the city's claim process.

Neighbors said they received an email from a Watershed staff member on May 31 that had information about how to file a claim against the city, but that email only had nine recipients on it, which only accounted for about four affected houses. The email asked the recipients to share that information with other neighbors, but they feel that should be the city's responsibility.

Neighbors also had a problem with the timing of the email and the release of the response. They said they did not know about the claims process until that May 31 email, and did not realize there was a time frame to submit a claim.

The city said you have 45 days from the event to file a claim. The May 31 email was day 41 of that timeframe, and the report was not released until two days before the filing deadline. Many neighbors said they were blindsided.

"To receive such kind of late notice with a hard deadline that is so quick, I worry about all the residents being able to accommodate that," Grant said.

A city spokesperson said fewer than a dozen people have filed a claim and "continues to evaluate claims submitted." Once the city receives a claim, it will investigate and then send a letter approving or denying a claim.

Neighbors said they have spoken with multiple attorneys, and continue to meet with more attorneys as they consider a lawsuit against the city. Grant said he hoped the neighbors can work with the city before it gets to that point.