Katrina victims sue U.S. over failed floodwalls

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Victims of some of the worst flooding after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans sued the federal government on Thursday charging negligence in the construction and maintenance of floodwalls on the 17th Street Canal.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit in 1984 allowing the canal to be dredged to improve drainage in low-lying areas despite warnings it would make floodwalls along the canal less stable.

Floodwalls along the 17th Street Canal collapsed shortly after Katrina struck the city Aug. 29, 2005, inundating several square miles (kilometres) of the city with roof-deep water. The adjacent Lakeview neighborhood was one of the hardest hit.

According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in New Orleans, the collapsed floodwalls contributed to 80 percent of the flooding of New Orleans and caused at least 588 of the nearly 1,300 deaths attributed to the storm.

A representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could not immediately be reached for comment."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08330136.htm

[Larkspur]

1. Can they sue FEMA too?

That could spur an end run around Lieberman's refusal to hold the White House accountable.

[Hissyspit]

2. AP: Army Corps Hit With New Katrina Lawsuit (Neighborhood Residents)

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_FLOOD_LAWSUIT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Feb 8, 7:12 PM EST
Army Corps Hit With New Katrina Lawsuit

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A group of residents whose neighborhood was flooded during Hurricane Katrina added a lawsuit Thursday to the mounting case against the Army Corps of Engineers, saying the agency knew flood walls were unstable.

The suit, which seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, was filed in federal court on behalf of seven residents of the Lakeview area near the 17th Street Canal. The suit alleges that dredging approved by the Corps weakened the soil that supported the canal's levees.

If class-action status is granted, tens of thousands of New Orleans residents could be included, and claims in the tens of billions of dollars could be involved.

A decision last week bolstered the suit's basic premise - the liability of the Corps.

In that ruling, a federal judge allowed a suit to proceed charging the Corps was liable for the flooding of eastern New Orleans and suburban St. Bernard Parish by waters from the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a navigation channel known locally as Mr. Go.

MORE

[northofdenali]

3. Good. I hope they kick ass and take names.

K&R

The Corps, in MUCH later years, did some good engineering (up here, anyway). Definitely not when the levees were studied, built and ignored.

hissy, I've stolen your cartoon. It's now one of my email stationary thingys. I think it's one of the funniest anti* caricatures around! (Hey, girl, at least I admitted it!!) :hug:

[youngdem]

4. Unfortunately, this suit will not likely go anywhere

The decision last week to which the article refers is a case involving the MRGO or Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which the Corps built for NAVIGATION, for which the Corps enjoys no immunity.

That is not the case for the 17th street Canal. It's sole function is drainage. The Corps is immune thanks to a decades old law meant to keep the Corps from being sued from acts of god, essentially.

This suit is likely to go nowhere, and the government is likely to point to the Road Home program for these citizens to be made whole.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

5. Blame the local Levee Board

They are the ones who squandered the money given with kickbacks and sweetheart deals. They are the reason the Federal funding for the levees was cut. Instead of giving the money to the levee board to squander and bribe, the Feds just kept it. The levee board insisted that it was the only rightful authority on how to spend money for the Levees despite the fact that the Levees were managed by the Army Copr of Engineers.

Even more, blame Kathleen Blanco, she is responsible for appointing Levee Board members and appointed members more interested in floating casinos and the Orelans Marina, not flood control.