Brookings Faces Lawsuit For Flood Damages

by Ashley Kringen, Reporter
March 01, 2013 9:48 PM


The city of Brookings is facing a lawsuit, following the 2010 flood that caused major damages.

Hundreds of people, from residents to businesses were affected by the high waters and some residents left without a home.

It’s been three years since the waste deep water creeped its way into Brookings, but on January 10th of this year, a judge in Madison certified this class action complaint.

Now the law firm on this case has been sending hundreds of notices to residents in the geographic area that was affected by the flood.

The Six Mile Creek in Brookings has no running water right now, but on September 23, 2010, this creek flooded, causing some people's dreams to drown.

"We're back where we started from, starting over, not quite knowing where to go," said Johnson.

Anthony Johnson and his wife Londa owned Rosewood Mobile Home Park.

The Johnson's invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into their business, hoping to make this their avenue to retirement.

It was a normal day in September when light rain began to fall, but hours later, Johnson sensed the Six Mile Creek was going to overflow into the mobile park, leading him to evacuate his 80 plus residents.

"I told people they needed to leave, they needed to get their stuff and get out because I was concerned how much water was going to come," said Johnson.

People did just that, some saving a few items, others leaving everything behind.

"In the end almost everyone did not want to come back, they were afraid to come back," said Johnson.

Now the Johnson's are bringing a case against the city of Brookings, Pamela R. Bollweg, with the law firm, Johnson, Heidepriem & Abdallah, L.L.P., is their attorney.

"The city and the county of Brookings failed to follow the proper regulations including maintenance and upkeep of their storm drainage system in both the city and the county," said Bollweg.

Johnson said the city has already made steps to cut down all the brush and trees in the creek, which does bring a sense of relief.

"This is not just about us. This is about everyone there and it's about the safety of the public and the city being responsible to the public, whoever they are," said Johnson.

KDLT News did reach out to the city of Brookings about this lawsuit, but officials said they wont comment on pending cases.

The deadline to join the lawsuit against the city of Brookings, for those affected by the 2010 flood, is April 15th.