I think a lot of it is going to depend on whether it was reasonable for the dam operators to determine that the release of water was necessary to keep the dam from failing.
If it was going to fail without the release of water then there is definitely no claim because the neighborhoods downstream would have been screwed either way.
It wouldn't be a cheap lawsuit either, because you'd need to hire an expert to say that the dam wouldn't have failed, etc. Depending on the amount of damage, it may be worth talking to a lawyer though because maybe he can negotiate some kind of compensation from the operators
The following is an email drafted by a lawyer whose house was in the affected (granted I know it is somewhat biased):
"Here are a few questions that came to my mind yesterday as we witnessed the aftermath of the flooding.
SCE&G waited until 11 AM Sunday morning to open the floodgates to a volume of 38,000 cubic feet of water per second after having known for nearly a week that this major storm event was headed to SC. This may not mean anything to you, but SCE&G' Flowage rate is limited to 18,000 cubic feet per second. The company has ALWAYS known that any flowage in excess of their legal limit of 18,000 cubic feet of water per second floods Pine Glen, or what used to be known as the Freshly Tract. This is why in 1930 SCE&G had to buy all lands in the flood plain up to the 178 ft. contour line in the Saluda River floodplain. They were sued in 1965 because they far exceeded this when they waited until the last minute before a major storm event to begin drawing down the water level in Lake Murray. At some points during the event, they were dumping 55,000 cubic feet per second into the lower Saluda. THis is why the lot numbers in Pine Glen begin with lot number 66. The others were deemed unbuildable. The City of Columbia in conjunction with FHA and the VA determined that the lower lots could not be serviced. This begs the question, did the City of Columbia, FHA and the VA make a determination after the massive flooding of 1965 that the rest of Pine Glen was actually SAFE in the event that SCE&G decided to a discharge rate of 55,000 cubic feet of water per second again in the future? If they did, then what guarantees did homebuyers have from these entities that they were safe from being intentionally flooded by SCE&G?
Media accounts last week up to Sunday indicated that the lake level was at about 358 feet before the rains began. The same media sources indicate that SCE&G waited until the lake level reached the LEGAL LIMIT for retention of 360 feet on Sunday morning before SCE&G opened the floodgates for the first time since 1969. When SCE&G talks about this, they refer to a "goal" of keeping the lake level under 360 feet. This is no "goal". This is actually the legal limit allowed under their license with the Federal Government. They also like to reference lake levels which are measured in inches and feet. THis makes small changes seem normal or controllable. What Pine Glen residents need to know is that the difference between 358 feet and 360 feet is not just two feet of water. IT IS FOUR BILLION GALLONS OF WATER and this is why you have lost everything that you own.
As many of you do know, the worst of the flooding last weekend occurred in the hours just after the gates were opened at 11AM on Sunday morning. SCE&G had known for a week what was coming and did NOTHING to protect Pine Glen. They destroyed our homes and our neighborhood with the FULL KNOWLEDGE of what they were doing. The decision will eventually have to be made as to whether SCE&G is held accountable for what they did to Pine Glen or not. To let them continue getting away with their media spin on this atrocity is up to the residents of Pine Glen. Write letters to the state paper, the insurance commissioner, your county commissioner and anyone who will listen. This was NOT and act of God. It was an act of SCE&G. For those interested in the excruciatingly familiar details of the 1965 case read on by clicking here."
