‘Not make the flooding worse,’ lawsuit continues for 2016 flood [Video]

DENHAM SPRINGS – On December 12, the class settlement for injunctive relief involving the 2016 floods in East Baton Rouge and Livingston Parishes was granted preliminary approval.

“Injunctive relief is where the court orders the defendant to fix something,” Joseph Bruno Sr, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, said.

This class settlement involves a 19-mile stretch of a concrete median crash barrier along I-12 from the Amite River to Colyell Creek. The lawsuit alleges the construction of the median disrupted the flow of water during the floods, causing damage to homes and businesses in the area. Bruno said DOTD and the companies who designed and installed the median had the responsibility to not worsen the water conditions in an area that was already a designated flood zone.

“They didn’t pay attention to the obligation they had to not make the flooding worse,” Bruno said.

Under the settlement agreement, some of the …