Homeowners Sue Northport and Tuscaloosa County Over Catastrophic 2021 Flooding

A group of homeowners is suing the City of Northport and Tuscaloosa County over extensive property damage caused by flooding in the summer of 2021 that they say could have been prevented.

The lawsuit was filed last week by five homeowners with properties on Kirkwood Drive, Kingdom Court and Ridgemont Avenue, all in Northport.

All five homes suffered damage on June 19, 2021, when heavy rains overwhelmed allegedly clogged drainage systems and stormwater surged through some houses as shown in the video captured by one Northport resident below.

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The lawsuit says the drainage systems were owned and maintained by the city of Northport, Tuscaloosa County or both.

The plaintiffs said they had notified both government agencies that the systems were clogged before the catastrophic flooding in June 2021, but not enough was done to remedy the matter before their homes were so badly damaged.

One of the plaintiffs shared a photo on Facebook of major flooding in her neighborhood in February 2020 - more than a year before the storm which brought on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims "the City of Northport and/or County of Tuscaloosa, Alabama negligently caused or allowed their servants, employees and/or representatives to act in such a way as to allow the Plaintiffs to sustain damages."

The somewhat boilerplate 13-count lawsuit appears to unintentionally mix up the cities of Northport and Birmingham on two occasions. It accuses Northport and/or Tuscaloosa County of trespass, negligence, invasion of privacy, nuisance, negligent installation or construction, negligent design or engineering, breach of contract, negligent hiring and more.

The plaintiffs are being represented by Birmingham attorneys R. Steven Cole and Robert Potter of Mann & Potter, P.C.

They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages from whichever government was ultimately responsible for the maintenance and operation of the drainage systems that failed that night.

Editor's Note: One of the plaintiffs in this case is Kimberly Madison, the former co-host on a radio show that aired on 95.3 the Bear, which is owned by Townsquare Media. Townsquare Media is also the parent company of the Tuscaloosa Thread. Madison has not worked for Townsquare since 2017 and she was not involved in either the Thread's obtainment of this lawsuit or the publication of this report, except through the use of a photo demonstrating the scope and history of the flooding.