DeKalb County covers cost of storage flood damage

CHAMBLEE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A metro Atlanta family pushing for some sort of compensation after flood water damaged their precious belongings in a Chamblee storage finally got some good news.

“We were actually not so much relieved as shocked,” Guardian Storage customer Kelley McManaman said.

McManaman said the County was performing maintenance on a fire hydrant near the Guardian Storage in 2021 and left the job unattended. Water poured into the storage unit flooding units inside.

Management at Guardian Storage had said DeKalb Watershed was to blame for the damages.

“We lost a lot of books, heirloom books, my kids first Bibles, stuff that had so much water damage they were lost,” McManaman said.

She also said the flood water damaged a box storing her wedding gown which cost hundreds of dollars to re-preserve.

After complaining for a year, DeKalb County finally wrote her a check for $1,500 to cover the cost of damages.

“It took 16 months for DeKalb County and the Watershed Department to repay us for damages they clearly caused. It took them months to even admit that they were at fault and then at the end we had to sign a letter that said they weren’t at fault,” McManaman said.

Oddly, the County agreed to cover the cost of damages, but only if the McManaman’s agreed to sign a release not holding DeKalb County accountable.

“I’m relieved. I’m glad it’s over and we got our money, and we can move on,” McManaman said.

Atlanta News First reached out to DeKalb County for comment but they did not provide a comment.

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