Federal Judge Finds Army Corps Liable for Katrina Damage

Over four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, a federal judge has ruled in favor of four plaintiffs from the vicinity of the city’s Ninth Ward, finding that the Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for some of the damage incurred by the storm and awarding each plaintiff over $700,000.  —KA

The Christian Science Monitor:

The landmark ruling awards $719,000 to four plaintiffs from the city’s Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish who filed suit in 2006. The only such liability suit to actually reach a courtroom, the so-called “Mr. Go” ruling (after a shipping channel in the area) opens the floodgates for a raft of new litigation from as many as 100,000 other residents.

More important, the ruling – which called the Army Corps “myopic” in its maintenance of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet canal (aka Mr. Go) – now puts pressure on President Obama to help the region settle claims that could reach into the billions of dollars. (Without a court judgment, the Bush administration had refused calls for a settlement.)

Read more

Wikimedia Commons/FEMA

Waiting out the aftermath: An all-too-common image in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.