Johnson v. Department of Highways

WALLACE, JUDGE:

In this claim, the claimant contends that the respondent negligently maintained a culvert under the road in front of her home, causing water to back up and flood her basement. The claimant had lived in her home on Jack Run Road in Lumberport, West Virginia, for forty years. Adjacent to her property is a ravine which is drained by a culvert under the road maintained by the respondent. In February, 1979, water in the ravine began backing up, and, on March 5, backed up in claimant’s sewer line and flooded her basement. This was the first time that this had ever occurred. When the…