Grand Ole Opry v. Army Corps

(Jonathan H. Adler)

Following Louisiana victims of post-Katrina flooding, the Grand Ole Opry is suing the federal government over damage resulting from a 2010 flood of Nashville, claiming negligence by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was at least possible responsible for over $250 million in damage to the Opry and other buildings. The LAT reports:

Monday’s lawsuit is notable not only because one of its main plaintiffs, Gaylord Entertainment Co., is the owner of the landmark Opry and the nearby Opryland Hotel, but also because the plaintiffs will try to hold the government accountable using a strategy similar to one employed by a group of New Orleanians who successfully sued the Army Corps over the floods that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005. . . .

In the Nashville case, plaintiffs argue that the flooding was caused by a botched handling of the Old Hickory Dam upriver. The suit alleges that the federal dam was congressionally authorized not as a flood-control project, but as a hydroelectric power and navigation project. As a result, it argues, the government should not be immune to a lawsuit.

The suit also alleges that the government failed to issue a proper warning of the danger.