It’s been heart breaking to watch footage of fellow citizens in distress from, what in many instances, may yet prove to be an entirely avoidable network of catastrophe . As the focus moves from the emergency of dealing with widespread flooding of newly constructed housing estates, the stark question of negligence and legal redress arises. So what should homeowners do, especially those not fully covered by insurance due to flooding exclusions or by simple lack of affordability due to financial stress?

The answer for many is to sue local authorities for negligence. Find an independent engineer who can show that local councils granted planning permission knowing that certain zoned lands were prone to a high risk of flooding and you could yet get compensation. God knows you deserve it. New housing estates built on flood plains over the past six years probably stand best chance of getting redress for hundreds of homeowners, quite literally cleaned out by the floods. That’s because the legal action would not be statute barred but even in instances where permissions were granted before 2003, claimants may be able to sue local councils if legal advisers can find a way through that barrier.

The first step is to organise a local group and fully estimate the damage caused, not just to contents but also the structural damage caused to the  outer fabric of the building and the loss of value caused as the market heavily discounts the value of your home until schemes are put in place that guarantee it will never happen again. After all would you buy a house or an apartment that could be under five feet of water every few years?

 You should appoint a suitably qualified and experienced litigator used to handling large scale compensation claims that involve taking on agencies of the State and be prepared for a long slog. As clear as night follows day, local planners will wring their hands and claim that all these instances were an Act of God or an outcome of so-called global warming. Don’t buy it for an instant.

Much of the damage may be traced back to pure incompetence in zoning lands unfit for habitation, dazzled by the huge development levies that would be generated for the local council and spurred on by competition against neighbouring authorities for plum multi-million Euro construction schemes. The awful irony is that you paid for the council’s work not just by paying your taxes but also by indirectly paying the levy which was padded into the sales price during the rising property market. A good litigator will find evidence that stress testing sites for flooding was either ignored or downplayed by local authorities sucked into the great game of the Celtic Tiger – getting a slice of the action. Don’t be shy about calling The Minster for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as a key witness – Green leader John Gormley  is already compromised by stating that many of these zonings should never have been granted!. Rhetoric and pleas will not pass the test of time as fresh issues knock this catastrophe off the national agenda. You have a case and right on your side so don’t lie down and take it, fight them. Suing is the only way to force local authorities to take the corrective measures needed and restore the normal market value of your home. So don’t just get mad, get organised and get going.