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Flood damage

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dsdsherm

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

My neighbor has a large pond that sits at a higher elevation than the lower back half of my property. During the floods in Tennessee a year or so back the retaining dam for the pond failed and all the water and rock from the dam washed away my fence, pond and trees off the back half of my property. I spend over $1000 to have it repaired.

Since then neighbor has rebuilt the dam, albeit very poorly. Their pond has refilled, and now the new dam is showing obvious signs that the scenario is about to repeat itself. The dam has a very large fissure in it and half the retaining surface is beginning to fall away.

I contacted the neighbor (who only owns the land as no dwelling in on the land) and told him of the pending failure, but he indicates there is nothing he can do to fix it, and he has no intentions of doing anything. If it holds, fine. If not, then it blows up. He will not entertain draining it to prevent the failure, as he is not totally convinced it will fail, and draining it will reduce the value of the property which is currently for sale. He is aware of the crack in the dam, but it treating any potential failure as an act of nature that he has no controll over.

If it does fail in a similar manner as last time I will have to destroy my pond dam to remove all the rock that washes into it (provided my pond holds as his is 10 times the size of mine and a catastrophic failure of his could just blow mine as well). This will cost me a small fortune to rebuild and replace.

What recourse do I have and what steps should I take now to protect myself from the event I feel certain is going to happen?
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
You could start with your city/county govt center zoning dept to learn what rules they have on the books addressing man made ponds and maint of them when they appear to be failing and could damage another persons property. ( do you have pics that show the current condition of the others pond ) ? once you have learned if local law speaks about this then use the links up top to talk to a atty because your going to need one who can offer advice based on your states laws especially if its not addressed on a local level.
 

Banned_Princess

Senior Member
And just because this is under the homeowners insurance title, I just want to tell you that your homeowners insurance doesnt cover any kind of flood. any water that hits the ground before damaging your property is a flood.

I recall the floods last year about this time, (I was in Clarksville on the river there, the cumberland river) and I think FEMA might have picked up some of the damage, but it is important, now that you know it can and will happen, to purchace a flood policy.
 

NC Aggie

Member
I think FarmerJ's suggestion is very good, your local planning department would definitely be a good place to start. If there is no development on the property, I'm assuming this is a old farm pond or recreational pond? The type of pond may make a difference in required maintenance.
 

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