$700,000 Katrina Payout Opens the Floodgate for Billions of Dollars

$700,000 seems like a paltry amount but it is the first victory for Katrina victims?.opening the ?floodgate? for a class action lawsuit that could reap tens of billions in federal bucks.

Four years after the hurricane ravaged New Orleans, while the rest of the country watched in shock, Judge Stanwood Duval has ruled that our federal government was indeed to blame for the flooding.

According to NewScientist, Judge Duval awarded the money to four plaintiffs who lived or had a business in or near the shipping channel known as Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), aptly called ?Hurricane Highway.?

On November 18, Duval deemed the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) negligent in maintenance and operation of MRGO. The result ?doomed the channel to grow to two to three times its design width.? Its banks were devastated while ravaging waves attributed to destructive flooding in St Bernard parish and the lower Ninth ward. ?Ignoring safety and poor engineering are not policy, and clearly the Corps engaged in such activities,? Duval stated.

The government is granted immunity if a flood control structure fails at what it is meant to do. But apparently, the same does not apply when USACE builds a navigational channel that helps demolish a flood-control structure and surrounding district.

The agency has almost two months to decide whether to appeal, which would delay the class action suit and possibly even send the case to the Supreme Court. ?There?s been no determination as yet as to what the government?s next step will be,? said Charlie Miller, a spokesman for the US Department of Justice, which is representing the corps.

However, Pierce O?Donnell, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said, ?We are overjoyed with the victory but resigned to the fact that we might have to continue the litigation for years. It?s a case of slow-motion justice.?

Landmark Ruling - Judge finds Army Corps of Engineers' negligent in maintaining and operating the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet

On November 18, 2009, Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, issued a landmark ruling finding the Army Corps of Engineers' negligent failure to maintain and operate the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) properly was a substantial cause for the fatal breaching of the Reach 2 Levee and the subsequent catastrophic flooding of the St. Bernard Polder. If Judge Duval's ruling is upheld on appeal, thousands of individuals and entities whose property was damaged or destroyed, or who suffered personal injury, in St. Bernard Polder and the Lower 9th Ward, could be eligible for compensation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Parker Waichman Alonso LLP, together with Becnel Law Firm, L.L.C, Salas, L.C. and Lambert and Nelson, P.L.C., is investigating claims on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims who sustained property damage because of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' failure to maintain MRGO. If you live in one of the Louisiana zip codes 70129, 70117, 70092, 70085, 70075, 70043, or 70032 and filed a SF Form 95 on or before Aug. 29, 2007, and have not retained an attorney, please contact our office today by visiting www.yourlawyer.com. Free case evaluations are also available by calling 1 800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636).

Was your home damaged in a hurricane? Our attorneys can help.

Contact us before you contact your insurance company or as soon as you know you have an insurance problem. Residents of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and the Caribbean may be affected by several hurricanes each season. Homeowners often face significant hurdles when trying to get insurance claims paid. The most effective method of dealing with your insurance company is to have a lawyer on your side before you first make contact. Insurance companies tend to treat claimants more fairly when the playing field is leveled and the company is aware that the claimant has representation. Our firm has worked with victims of the following hurricanes toward getting their claims paid:

• Katrina
• Rita
• Wilma
• Charley
• Frances
• Ivan
• Jeanne

Insurance companies are required to handle your claim with good faith and fair dealing. Most states have laws governing how insurers deal with claimants and require insurers to make a written offer to settle a property damage claim within 30 days after receipt of a "satisfactory proof of loss" for the claim. If the insurance company fails to do this, they may be subject to penalties.

However, even when insurance companies respond within 30 days, they deny claims left and right. Homeowners insurance typically does not cover floods resulting from a hurricane; instead flood damage is often covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. Most homeowner’s policies contain a sentence excluding “flood, surface water, waves, tidal water, overflow of a body of water or spray from any of these.” However, homeowners insurance does cover things such as wind damage and damage from wind-driven rain. Insurers are using the disclaimer about flooding to get out of paying claims on homes damaged only by wind. Many residents are fighting with their insurance companies over whether the damage was caused by flooding, wind, wind-driven water from storm surges. Many inland residents find that their claims are denied and that their insurers cite flooding disclaimers. The denial of homeowner’s claims in non-flooded areas is a bad faith practice.

In Florida, the State Legislature passed a law that combined the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (FRPCJUA) and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA) to create the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens). Citizens provides insurance to homeowners in high-risk areas and others who cannot find coverage in the open private insurance market. However, this insurance and the federal flood insurance are costly, and even for residents of non-high-risk areas, claims are being denied in bad faith.

We purchase insurance to provide assistance in times when we need help the most. It is unconscionable that insurance companies choose profits over helping their clients who have paid substantial money for coverage. Parker Waichman Alonso LLP has helped victims of all types of bad faith insurance claim denials receive the compensation that they deserve. If your claim has been denied, or if you have not yet filed a claim, please contact us today for a free case consultation.