In late December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit delivered a significant victory for property owners affected by upstream flooding from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey. The three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the government’s liability, finding that the Corps of Engineers knew or should have known since the dams’ construction that severe storms would cause the reservoirs to overflow and flood private properties. 

“Broadly speaking, we won everything that we asked for,” Daniel Charest of Burns Charest told ABC13. “With small margins on the damages side, and the government lost everything it asked for with small margins on the damages side.” 

According to a report on Houston Public Media, the ruling potentially opens the door for thousands of others to obtain compensation. 

The Texas Tribune, The Houston Chronicle,  and KHOU were among other media outlets covering the ruling.