$1.4 Million Jury Verdict Against City of Philadelphia for Death in Floodwaters

In January 2015, after a two-week trial, a Philadelphia jury returned a verdict of $1.4 million on behalf of the Estate of Deanna Compton. Attorneys John M. Dodig and Jason A. Daria represented the Compton Estate. In the early morning hours of September 8, 2011, 27-year-old Deanna Compton was driving her car heading home after visiting a friend. It was raining heavily as Tropical Storm Lee was blanketing the City of Philadelphia with rain. Ms. Compton drove into a flooded Germantown intersection and subsequently drowned. Through discovery it was learned that a number of the storm water inlets at the intersection were in a state of disrepair that contributed to the street flooding.

The City of Philadelphia contended that the condition of the storm water inlets played no role in the flooding and that the storm was an Act of God dumping over 7 inches of rain on the City. The City of Philadelphia made no attempt to settle the case prior to the unanimous jury verdict. The decedent Deanna Compton left behind a young son who has relocated with his father to South Carolina, and her parents who reside in Philadelphia. Unfortunately for the Estate there is a cap of $500,00.00, which limits the recovery against the City of Philadelphia.