Sarasota County homeowners whose houses flooded during Tropical Storm Debby in 2024 may get another chance to pursue a negligence claim against the county after a judge agreed to reconsider an earlier ruling in their lawsuit.
On Sept. 4, 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Dana Moss granted a motion from Laurel Meadows residents to reconsider her Aug. 12 ruling.
The decision could reopen a path for residents to seek damages from the county.
The suit, filed by Steven D. Hutton, of Hutton & Stall, PLLC and S. William Moore of Moore Bowman & Reese, P.A. alleges that the impact of the rainfall on the 85-home Laurel Meadows subdivision was exacerbated by a breach in a dike that separates the Cow Pen Slough from the Phillippi Creek watershed.
What does the lawsuit claim?
The lawsuit includes
an inverse-condemnation claim alleging that Sarasota County’s actions or inaction resulted in an uncompensated taking of the plaintiffs’ property or substantially deprived them of its beneficial use.
It also alleges that Sarasota County should have known about the breach in the dike between two watersheds and had a responsibility to maintain Cow Pen Slough and related infrastructure, including the dike.
The plaintiffs also include three businesses that reported flood damage: R and H Meadows LLC, Kitchen Design by Laura LLC and Kayaking SRQ Tours LLC.
Hutton told the Herald-Tribune that a second amended complaint has already been filed that includes more detail that Moss asked for earlier and reintroduces the negligence claim.
“If you look at the second amended complaint we’ve added a lot more detail per the court’s suggestion but otherwise we’re where we were before,” Hutton said.
Sarasota County has a standing policy of not commenting on active lawsuits.
The Second Amended Complaint was logged on Sept. 11, so Sarasota County Attorney David Pearce has 10 days from that date to file a response.
The case is tentatively scheduled for a non-jury civil trial on July 6, 2027 before Judge Hunter W. Carroll.
What happened to cause flooding in Laurel Meadows?
The first of three major storms to impact Sarasota County duringthe 2024 hurricane season, Debby was still at tropical storm strength when it broughtrecord rainfall to the area — 11.06 inches recorded on Aug. 4 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, according to the National Weather Service, and more than 16 inches over a three-day span.
Floodwater entered 84 of Laurel Meadows’ 85 homes after Debby dropped more than a foot of rain in 24 hours, engineer and hydrologistStephen Suau told the Herald-Tribune in November 2024.
The original lawsuit alleges that a breach in a dike separating Cow Pen Slough from the Phillippi Creek watershed worsened the flooding in the 85-home Laurel Meadows subdivision.
“Our flooding event was frankly unique, because it resulted from this breach in the berm that allowed literally hundreds of millions of gallons of water to pour through and inundate the Laurel Meadows neighborhood,” Hutton said. “There’s no question that’s what caused it, and frankly I don’t think there’s much question because the county’s own records say that they created that low spot by driving equipment over that berm over the years and just forgot about it.”
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook, and X. He can be reached by email at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota flood victims get new chance in lawsuit against county
