Katrina Negligence Case Against Feds Goes to Court

Feds could be on the hook for billions in damages

(NEWSER) - In an opinion that could open the federal government to billions in damage claims, a judge ruled today that the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain an outlet channel led directly to disastrous flooding in and around New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “The people of this city have been vindicated,” one attorney tells the Times-Picayune . “They didn’t do anything wrong and it's time they be compensated.” More»

(NEWSER) - Even if the government somehow managed to re-create pre-Katrina New Orleans, it couldn't guarantee the safety of the city and its residents, according to a new report. The Army Corps of Engineers is rebuilding levees in anticipation of a “100-year storm,” but for a city of New Orleans’ size nothing is truly sufficient, the Times-Picayune reports. The report recommends relocating people living in at-risk areas. More»

3 die in biggest evacuation in Louisiana history

(NEWSER) - The last bus out of New Orleans drove off at 3pm yesterday, leaving behind a virtual ghost town, reports the Houston Chronicle. An estimated 10,000 residents are left in the hurricane-threatened city, now subject to a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew. Some 1.9 million Louisianans have fled Hurricane Gustav—the biggest evacuation in state history. Three hospital patients died during the operation. More»

Flash flooding expected from drenching storm

(AP) - As Katia regained hurricane status, the center of Tropical Storm Lee stretched across the central Gulf Coast early today, dumping torrential rains that threatened flooding in low-lying communities in a foreshadowing of what cities further inland could face in coming days. Lee's center crawled ashore in Louisiana before dawn after the vast, soggy storm system spent hours during the weekend hovering in the northernmost Gulf of Mexico— knocking out power to 32,000 before it even made landfall . The storm's slow crawl to the north gave more time for its drenching rain bands to pelt a wide swath of vulnerable coastline, raising the flood threat. More»

Region could see 20 inches of rain

(NEWSER) - A tropical depression heading toward the Gulf Coast could soak the area in as much as 20 inches of rain, prompting concerns about flash floods in Louisiana, whose governor declared a state of emergency yesterday. What could become Tropical Storm Lee prompted warnings from Mississippi to Texas, the AP reports, with heavy rain expected over southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama through Sunday. More»