2012 Indianapolis Flooding Becomes Costly for City

The city of Indianapolis faces possibly paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a restaurant badly damaged by flooding during a downpour a year ago.

City officials found that inspectors failed to properly activate an electronic locking system on a pair of White River floodgates which a trespasser had closed two weeks before the May 2012 flooding in the Broad Ripple neighborhood on the city’s north side.

The Indianapolis Star reports the city has paid out more than $82,000 to settle damage claims but still has a nearly $650,000 claim pending from Petite Chou restaurant.

Owner Martha Hoover says the restaurant had to be gutted and rebuilt after the flooding.

City officials say inspectors are checking the floodgates more frequently and were installing tamper-proof locks.