Lawsuit Asks for $20M After Army Dam Fails in Massive Flood

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – About a dozen homeowners are suing Fort Jackson over damage caused when two dams on the Army base failed during last October’s massive floods.
Twenty-five residents of the upscale King’s Grant subdivision are asking for $20 million in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.
The lawsuit says the Army knew the earthen dam built in 1940 on Semms Lake was deficient after a 2013 inspection, but did not repair it. The lawsuit also says the Army also failed to reduce the level of the lake even as forecasts called for at least a foot of rain.
Two feet of rain fell in about 12 hours in October. The lawsuit says the dam failed, triggering more dams to break downstream and causing a catastrophic flood along Wildcat Creek.