[StBernard] Ruling in lingering post-Katrina flooding suit expected soon

[Westley Annis]

Ruling in lingering post-Katrina flooding suit expected soon

By KEVIN McGILL - Associated Press - Wednesday, April 22, 2015
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A decade-old lawsuit seeking damages from the U.S.
government over flooding from Hurricane Katrina and other storms is moving
closer to resolution, and a judge's latest filing indicates that at least
some damages will be ordered.

Judge Susan Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington said in
a document filed Wednesday that she will issue an order on liability in the
case by May 4. She didn't say what her decision will be but set a May 6
settlement conference in New Orleans to discuss "a potential resolution of
the damages in this case."

The 2005 lawsuit focuses on the now-closed Mississippi River Gulf Outlet - a
federally built navigation canal blamed by many for flooding in St. Bernard
Parish and New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward.

A lead attorney for plaintiffs in the case wouldn't speculate on what
Braden's ruling will be.

"We'll certainly study it closely. We're hopeful it will be a positive
result," lawyer Carlos Zelaya said.

Zelaya said there have been two phases of trials in the suit dealing with
liability and damages. Braden has not issued a ruling on either. The
plaintiffs - the government of St. Bernard Parish and more than a dozen
other property owners - also are seeking class action status on behalf of
all property owners affected by the flooding in St. Bernard and the Lower
9th Ward.


 
The suit says the construction, dredging and operation of the navigation
canal, known in south Louisiana as "Mister Go," contributed to conditions
that led to catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005,
Hurricane Rita weeks later and other storms. In effect, the suit argued, the
damage caused by the flooding was an illegal "taking" of private property by
the federal government without adequate compensation.

The MRGO was authorized by Congress in 1956, built by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and closed in the years after Katrina.

Numerous other lawsuits filed against the federal government over
Katrina-related flooding have failed.

A string of court rulings insulated the federal government from liability
for billions of dollars in flood damage that many residents and business
owners have blamed on the Corps' design, construction and maintenance of
levees and floodwalls



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