The borough of Haddonfield in Camden County will be forced to pay nearly $21.8 million to residents who had homes severely damaged by flooding after a storm, a New Jersey jury ruled.
After a 10-day trial in the Camden County Superior Court, the jury reached a unanimous decision on March 21, determining Haddonfield’s stormwater management system was unsafe.
The jury also found the municipality failed to address its stormwater runoff issue, causing “stormwater, fecal matter and other wastewater materials” to enter and destroy four homes in the borough, according to court documents.
“These are very good people who had their lives turned upside down by what happened to them,” Robert D. Sokolove, the attorney representing the impacted homeowners, said in a statement.
“Their lives were decimated, and they are still fighting to regain the normalcy they had before the flood,” Sokolove added.
A spokesperson for Haddonfield said on Thursday that the borough’s administration had no comment about the ruling.
On June 20, 2019, heavy rainfall swept through South Jersey, causing extensive flooding in towns located in Camden and Gloucester counties. Emergency responders had to rescue dozens as cars that became submerged as streets turned into rivers.
A backup of stormwater led the backyards of four homes in Haddonfield on Lafayette Avenue and Heritage Road to flood during the storm, the lawsuit said.
The residents that lived in the four homes were forced to evacuate and had to pay large sums of money to make their houses livable again, according to court documents.
Some of those impacted had pets who died during the flood. One homeowner was elderly and died without being able to return to his home, Sokolove said.
After the storm, residents made phone calls to the borough and attended public meeting to get information about the stormwater and drainage system, court documents said.
Haddonfield officials lacked “information, records or documents” about the system in the backyards of the homes, the suit said. After investigating, the borough later found that pipes used to take floodwaters away from the properties were not connected, the lawsuit said.
Also, in 2016 Haddonfield conducted a study in areas where the borough had drainage problems, but “no action was taken to address the flooding issue,” at the homes, the lawsuit said.
New Jersey American Water, a subsidiary of American Water based in Camden, was also sued in the case for an alleged lack of management of the wastewater system in the borough.
However, the company reached a settlement with the homeowners before going to trial, according to Sokolove, the attorney representing the residents. The amount was not disclosed.
New Jersey American Water did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since Superstorm Sandy,advocates have been arguing that New Jersey needs stronger stormwater management plans and protections from flooding, due to the effects of climate change and rising rainfall totals.
“With more and greater rainfall and flooding events, government entities must be more vigilant in calibrating their activities to address the property risks which will occur in the future,” Sokolove said.
“This should serve as a wake-up for towns and cities around the country. Flooding is no longer ‘business as usual.’”
Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Nyah Marshall may be reached at Nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com.
