Ottawa County Oklahoma Residents v Grand River Dam Authority
Payouts Begin in Class Action Filed Over Dam Flooding
Settlement funds have been released to a majority of flood victims who filed a class-action lawsuit against the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), according to an attorney representing the plaintiffs. Payments were disbursed following a late Feb. 27 hearing which concluded a long legal battle between Ottawa County, Oklahoma residents who suffered repeated flooding in a three-year period and GRDA.
According to GRDA, 88 of 94 claims involving more than 100 individuals have been settled and will be paid from a $9 million sum. The disbursement of funds comes nearly a dozen years after local land owners sought compensation from GRDA for damage incurred in 14 flooding events between November of 1992 and June of 1995 - only one of which was determined by a hydrologist to be an "overwhelming natural event."
