Capitola Sues For More Than $1 Million In Water Damage - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Capitola Sues For More Than $1 Million In Water Damage

CAPITOLA, Calif.- It was a terrible combination of events that changed the course of a city forever and nearly two years later Capitola is still picking up the pieces and fighting to get back on track after waves of water flooded the city's streets.

In march of 2011, a storm drain break following a major rain storm in Capitola led to water cascading through downtown, causing millions of dollars in damages. The city is now in federal court, suing its own insurance company for $1.7 million dollars it spent to fix damage from the 2011 flood, caused by a broken pipe.

The city said Lexington Insurance Group refused to pay the damages because the insurers said the destruction was caused by the flooding. The insurance doesn't cover flood damage, but it does cover broken pipes.

In a rare coincidence, exactly one year ago, Capitola's city attorney spoke to the media and said, "We've hired an attorney to deal with the insurance company at this time. They said that we did not have coverage because we sustained flood damage. It's our position that a pipe failed. And if the pipe had not failed, there wouldn't have been this water damage."