Residents evacuated from flooded Jeffersonville apartments asking for reimbursement

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Some elderly and disabled tenants of a Jeffersonville apartment complex that has flooded four times since its opening last year want to be reimbursed for cleanup and lost belongings.

A woman started a change.org petition asking either the city of Jeffersonville or the owner of the M. Fine on Spring apartment building, New Hope Services Inc., to pay for what residents have lost when the building floods.

Those who lived in the building, which opened in 2018, lost furniture, food, clothes and oxygen tanks when it flooded last week and they were forced to evacuate.

Flooding issues are no stranger to the complex. Last summer, residents were forced to evacuate when it flooded three separate times.

Nearly 900 people have signed the petition so far, but the organizer is hoping for 1,000.

Both New Hope and the city of Jeffersonville are blaming each other for the flooding. New Hope said the city hasn't kept storm drains cleaned out. But Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore said when the building was sold to New Hope, it was fully disclosed that the area is prone to heavy flooding.

This leaves residents caught in the middle of a legal fight between the two over who is to blame.

The apartments earned approval across the board from Jeffersonville planning and zoning, the building commission and city council. But, the city's building commissioner, Larry Wallace, said he warned and questioned New Hope about flooding during apartment construction but admitted the developer's designs met building codes. Some residents have said they believe structural changes to the building caused the flooding problems.

Both sides are now trying to make changes. New Hope said last week it would place residents in nearby properties it owns and has no plans to send residents back for a potential fifth flood. The city is in the process of trying to buy land around the complex to install large underground storm basins.

New Hope has filed a lawsuit against the city over the flooding problem.

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