HOUSTON – Almost 500 homeowners from the Woodlands area are suing the developers of their neighborhood after it flooded during Hurricane Harvey.
Thursday morning attorneys representing the Timarron Park Subdivisions allege The Woodlands Land Development Company L.P. , the Howard Hughes Corporation, and LJA Engineering Inc, knew the land was flood prone.
WATCH: Woodlands-area residents sue developers after Harvey press conference
"We thought we were buying Ferraris and what we got was a used car that has a lot of problems,” said Jim Diemer, whose home flooded during Harvey.
He said he built his home in 2013, but during the Memorial Day flood in 2015 they noticed flooding in the neighborhood which is why he bought flood insurance.
“Many residents asked, 'Do I need flood insurance?' and the answer was, 'No.'," said Diemer about when he bought his home.
Diemer, who has a master's degree in environmental and civil engineering, said many neighbors have similar backgrounds and have used the last several months to research, pull documents from the Harris County Flood Control District, Army Corps of Engineers, and other entities to understand why their neighborhood was flooding.
The 485 homeowners allege the developers did not build the homes at adequate elevations, stating the area has flooded for years due to the Spring Creek nearby.
WATCH: Homeowners in The Woodlands file lawsuit over flooding
"The developers and engineers in this case ignored historic water flow patterns and built a subdivision of homes that were not properly built to withstand the types of floods this area experiences,” stated attorney Annie McAdams, one of the attorney’s representing the homeowners.
Several attorneys, Tommy Fibich, Muhammad S. Aziz, Annie McAdams, Larry G. Dunbar and James E. Bradley are representing the neighborhood.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants, “made errors when designing the storm water management system of Timarron. The storm water management system was not designed to handle rainfall amounts that should have been reasonably anticipated.”
It goes on to state the area was known for flooding in the last 40 years before Hurricane Harvey, which included flooding in 1994.
“We are going to pursue this with a vengeance, we are not going to give up!” said Diemer.