Flood victims' family to receive $1.5M in damages
Government agencies have agreed to pay a total of about $1.5 million in damages to the family of a Plum woman who drowned in 2011 with her two young daughters during a flash flood on Washington Boulevard in Highland Park, an attorney said Friday.
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's board Friday voted to approve paying $350,000 to settle its portion of a lawsuit filed by Christopher Griffith.
Griffith's wife, Kimberly, 45, and daughters, Brenna, 12, and Mikaela, 8, died Aug. 19, 2011, when a wall of water inundated Washington Boulevard during a heavy rain. The three were in their car. Water rose quickly above the roof of the vehicle, trapping them.
Griffith's Downtown-based attorney Alan H. Perer, said PennDOT and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority also agreed to settlements.
PennDOT will pay $750,000 and Alcosan $375,000, he said.
“It's a situation that has existed for years, and unfortunately we had another fatality there,” Perer said. “It's a tragedy that it's taken the death of four people to get government to finally act.”
The three government agencies previously paid $500,000 to settle lawsuits filed by the family of Mary Saflin, 72, of Oakmont who died in the flood.
Alcosan spokeswoman Jeanne Clark confirmed the settlement amount to Griffith, but declined further comment. Steve Cowan, PennDOT's District 11 spokesman, declined comment, saying the department requires a written request under Pennsylvania's Right to Know law for information about the lawsuit.
Perer, who also represents Saflin's family, said Pittsburgh is considering proposals that would award Griffith $350,000 and Saflin's family $125,000 to settle lawsuits filed against the city.
Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said the Law Department is reviewing the proposals.
Pittsburgh worked with PennDOT after the tragedy to install a flood gate system that automatically blocks traffic from entering Washington Boulevard during hard rain.
It trained 2,000 public safety employees on how best to respond to swift-water rescue situations and purchased special equipment to respond to floods.
The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County in 2014 authorized a $250,000 grant to buy 400 rain barrels to help property owners reduce water runoff and flooding in the Washington Boulevard area during heavy rain.
Bob Bauder is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.
