JUDGE ENDS KATRINA FLOODING LAWSUITS AGAINST FEDS
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Dozens of lawsuits seeking damages from the federal government for Hurricane Katrina-related levee failures and flooding in the New Orleans area are over.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. has dismissed the cases. The move comes more than a year after a federal appeals court overturned his ruling that held the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers liable for flooding caused by lax maintenance of a shipping channel.
Duval has also dismissed a parallel lawsuit against a contractor. It claimed excavation work weakened flood walls in New Orleans' Industrial Canal. Duval entered the orders to dismiss the cases on Dec. 20.
More than 500,000 residents, businesses and governments filed claims against the Corps. People in southern Louisiana have long taken for granted that the flooding in the wake of the 2005 storm was a man-made disaster - one caused specifically by the corps - and they have wanted the agency to pay up for lost homes and property.