Last week in New Orlean US District Justice Stanwood Duvall ruled that the cause of the breach of the levies in New Orleans was poor maintenance by the Corp of Engineers - not primarily Katrina. His ruling stated that the Army Corp of Engineers is responsible for "monumental negligence and a manmade disaster".
This ruling implicates the federal government as responsible for the damages to the Chalmette section of New Orleans which could have "possibly been avoided if something more had been done to sure up and maintain the levee system protecting the city". This marks the "first time ever that the Army Corps of Engineers has been held liable for damages for a major catastrophe that it caused".
The Corps argued that it is imune from liability because the channel is part of the New Orleans flood control system, and that the 1960's built shipping channel breaches were partially caused by Katrina. The government is expected to appeal.
As a flood victim, on the Delaware River I can remember back to when the Army Corp of Engineers was said to have been responsible for an ice dam flood in 1996. They were said to have not blasted an enormous ice dam in Narrowsburg, which later started to melt and breakup and caused a wall of water and a surge which flooded my home and many others. Those in government swept these kinds of alligations under the carpet because that would mean that they are not doing their jobs. In this respect, it is good that the people of New Orleans are being heard. One would wonder, however if a New Orleans judge can truely be impartial.
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/f/1310/11-19-2009/20091119065008_59.html
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