By: Scott Larson
slarson@kcautv.com
The livelihoods of people up and down the Missouri River were hurt when it flooded in 2011. And many of them blame the Corps of Engineers for its management of the river - which is why some people want the Corps to pay up.
Harry Fredericksen of Thurman, IA is one of the many farmers hurt by the flood and is frustrated with the lack of a response. "I've had no correspondence other than one letter from the Colonel at the Corps...and I had to get that through my Senator." Harry grows hay to fund his retirement. But since the devastating Missouri River Flood of 2011, his land was first covered with 3 feet of water, followed by several inches of sand when the waters retreated.
He's now seeking money for the work lost – he issued a claim for about $100,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Harry says, "I would just like to know when and if they're ever gonna pay their claims. I mean they've got three hundred and sixty million dollars worth of claims."
And Harry isn't the only one. Farmers up and down the river were affected and Friday night, hundreds of them met in Blair, Nebraska where they sought hope. A law firm – Murphy, Taylor, Siemens, and Elliot – is willing to individually represent farmers affected by the flood in suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The firm will collect a third of what's won, but Scott Olson of Tekamah, Nebraska says getting two–thirds of the claim, at this point, is better than the alternative. "You know, two weeks ago I had absolutely no chance at anything. And today I've got a chance at two–thirds of something. So, you don't know. Whether we can win or not, that's up to the lawyers and what they do. I've got some faith in them and if we don't have faith, we don't have anything, do we?"
