Over $63 Million Awarded For Flooding Caused by Defective Bridge
A Louisiana appellate court last week affirmed an award exceeding $63 million to landowners for flood damage caused by a negligently designed and built bridge.
After floodwaters damaged their homes and businesses in Tangipahoa Parish, flood victims filed a class action alleging that the State's negligent design and construction of the Interstate 12 bridge over the Tangipahoa River disrupted the natural flood plain, causing the rising waters to flood their homes and properties. The trial court held the State liable in the first phase of a bifurcated trial, and this judgment was affirmed on appeal in Boudreaux v. Department of Transportation and Development(Boudreaux I).
The trial court awarded all of the flood victims damages for diminished real property value, loss of personal property and cost of repair and mental anguish; sub classes received awards for lost wages and business interruption.
The appellate court made only relatively small adjustments to the trial courts awards in Boudreaux v. Department of Transportation (Bourdreaux II).
The court affirmed an award of $21 million for lost real property value on the basis of evidence that "flood stigma" had reduced the value of the property 35%.
The court affirmed an award of almost $42 million for mental anguish reasoning that even class members who could show no psychic trauma could recover for mental anguish because the flooding was the type of event likely to cause such anguish and because a procedural stipulation entered into by the State permitted an award to all class members.