NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge ruled yesterday evening that poor maintenance of a major navigation channel by the Army Corps of Engineers led to some of the worst flooding after Hurricane Katrina. The ruling was a major victory for homeowners who suffered damage in the aftermath of the storm.
It was the first time that the government has been held liable for any of the flooding that inundated the New Orleans area after Aug. 29, 2005, vindicating the long-held contention of many in the region that the flooding was far more than an act of God.
If upheld on appeal, the ruling could force the federal government to pay tens of millions of dollars, if not more, to homeowners and businesses whose property was lost or damaged by water from the navigation canal.
“It is the court’s opinion that the negligence of the Corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MR-GO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia, and shortsightedness,’’ wrote Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of US District Court.
The liability applies only to damage around the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, east of the city.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said 80,000 people lived in the area.
