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Lawsuit Faults U.S. Forest Service In Deadly Campground Flood
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of the relatives of three people who died in a flash flood last summer at the Albert Pike Campground.
The Little Missouri River rose quickly during a powerful storm in the early hours of June 11, 2010, washing away campers, killing 20, while about 60 had to be rescued.
“The horror of this event was not only the loss of 20 people, including families and children as young as two, but it was totally preventable if the Forest Service had done what it was supposed to,” said attorney Jim Freeman with the firm Wilkes and McHugh. You can listen to an interview with Freeman above.
Freeman says campsites never should have been built on Loop D, which is where the flash flood occurred. He also argues that nothing warned campers of what the area was susceptible to.
“You would think if you go into a campground that’s marked, that’s set up for RVs with electricity, water and so forth that the Forest Service would have insured that it was built in a safe place and if there was a danger of floods that they would have warned them of the history of floods in the area.”
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Tracy Farley said she was unfamiliar with the lawsuit and could not comment on pending litigation.
The wrongful death suit was filed on behalf of relatives of three members of a family who died.
Esther Kay Roeder, 69, Bruce Roeder, 51, and Deborah Roeder, 52, were in a camper that was hit by the rapidly rising flood waters.
Another, Tara Roeder, 30, was able to survive by clinging to a tree for more than two hours.
In the aftermath of the storm, the U.S. Forest Service vowed to improve its communications systems and emergency responses at its campgrounds.
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