Grefe & Sidney attorneys Mark Thomas and Laura Martino successfully defended an Iowa county against allegations of inverse condemnation of plaintiff’s property rights. In 2008 and 2010, as a result of the Des Moines River flooding, plaintiff’s property suffered catastrophic damage. The County in 1997 reconstructed the gravel road that ran in front of plaintiff’s property as a result of damage that occurred to the road during the floods of 1993. At trial, plaintiff argued that the height of the road was raised during the reconstruction thereby acting as a damn and increasing the amount of flooding his property experienced in 2008 and 2010. Mr. Thomas and Ms. Martino countered and provided evidence that established plaintiff’s cause of action was meritless—the evidence established the road was not raised, nor was the road a contributing factor of plaintiff’s property loss; plaintiff’s property would have flooded irrespective of the improvements.