Hurricane Katrina Flooding Lawsuit OK’d For Trial

People who blame the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for allowing devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina can sue the government for property damage, a federal judge has ruled.

The corps had argued that it was immune from the lawsuit stemming from the 2005 hurricane, which caused widespread flooding and destruction throughout New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast. But U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval dismissed that defense, paving the way for the lawsuit to move forward toward trial, now set to begin April 20, 2009.

The suit centers on a 76-mile-long waterway called the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, which flood victims claim was not properly maintained by the corps and allowed the hurricane storm surge to reach into the low-lying, eastern portions of the city and St. Bernard Parish.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of six residents, is being closely watched by thousands of other hurricane victims, since other efforts to sue over Hurricane Katrina damages have been dismissed by courts. The residents are seeking compensation for property damage caused by the rising flood waters.

Other Suits Dismissed

In January 2008, the same federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against the corps over the breaching of New Orleans’ 17th Street Canal during Hurricane Katrina. The judge held that the Flood Control Act of 1928 grants immunity to the federal government when floodwalls and other measures break.

In defending the latest lawsuit now going to trial, the corps has argued that it was not required to build storm surge barriers in the waterway or stabilize the channel’s shorelines, as the plaintiffs charge.

Trial Needed to Settle Some Questions

The judge said a trial is needed to decide whether the corps failed to take the risk of flooding from the outlet seriously after it dug the channel.

The judge said the plaintiffs have raised “substantial questions of fact” as to whether the corps exercised the due care required by law by relying on studies about the risks and benefits of widening the channel to prevent storm flooding.

To date, the federal government has set aside more than $126 billion for rebuilding and recovery following Hurricane Katrina, including more than $7.8 billion in grants to help more than 122,000 homeowners.

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