Katrina victims sue US government

[meth0dical]

Katrina victim sues U.S. for $3 quadrillion
Federal government hit with 489,000 damage claims after hurricane
The Associated Press
updated 9:40 a.m. PT, Wed., Jan. 9, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina's victims have put a price tag on their suffering and it is staggering — including one plaintiff seeking the unlikely sum of $3 quadrillion.

The total number — $3,014,170,389,176,410 — is the dollar figure so far sought from some 489,000 claims filed against the federal government over damage from the failure of levees and flood walls following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

Of the total number of claims, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it has received 247 for at least $1 billion apiece, including the one for $3 quadrillion.

"That's the mother of all high numbers," said Loren Scott, a Baton Rouge-based economist.

For the sake of perspective: A mere $1 quadrillion would dwarf the U.S. gross domestic product, which Scott said was $13.2 trillion in 2007. A stack of one quadrillion pennies would reach Saturn.

Some residents may have grossly exaggerated their claims to send a message to the corps, which has accepted blame for poorly designing the failed levees.

"I understand the anger," Scott said. "I also understand it's a negotiating tactic: Aim high and negotiate down."

Daniel Becnel, Jr., a lawyer who said his clients have filed more than 60,000 claims, said measuring Katrina's devastation in dollars and cents is a nearly impossible task.

"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."

The corps released zip codes, but no names, for the 247 claims of at least $1 billion. The list includes a $77 billion claim by the city of New Orleans. Fourteen involve a wrongful death claim. Fifteen were filed by businesses, including several insurance companies.

Little is known about the person who claimed $3 quadrillion. It was filed in Baker, 93 miles northwest of New Orleans. Baker is far from the epicenter of Katrina's destruction, but the city has a trailer park where hundreds of evacuees have lived since the storm.

Katrina, which is blamed for more than 1,600 deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, is considered the most destructive storm to ever hit the U.S. It caused at least $60 billion in insured losses and could cost Gulf Coast states up to $125 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Most of the claims were filed before a deadline that coincided with Katrina's second anniversary, but the Corps is still receiving them — about 100 claims have arrived over the past three weeks — and is feeding them into a computer database.

The Corps said it isn't passing judgment on the merits of each claim. Federal courts are in charge of deciding if a claim is valid and how much compensation is warranted.

"It's important to the person who filed it, so we're taking every single claim seriously," Corps spokeswoman Amanda Jones said.

Katrina victim sues U.S. for $3 quadrillion - U.S. business - MSNBC.com

[Senior]

well like they say someone has got to pay and in this case it's really hard to say what could possibly be to much money. really one of the worst things I've ever seen happen in the World. a completely preventable tragedy.

[meth0dical]

true, it is hard to say how much money is too much but i think 3 quadrillion is a little bit ridiculous, thats greed overtaking reason.

[gnosis]

~gasp!~
laughing sooo h ard!

Scott said. "Aim high and negotiate down."

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHA HAHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHAHAAAAA!

Frosty
(holding belly)

[DefJef]

Im not the only one who thinks lawsuits like this are asinine, am I??

Im rather uneducated on this matter, but from what I gather......a hurricane is an act of God.... OR, a NATURAL DISASTER... isnt it??

Does this mean I can sue the pants off the canadian government when 'the big earthquake' hits Vancouver and the building where my million dollar 1 bedroom apartment is falls to the ground becuase it isnt God-proof?

I dont know enough about this so my foot may already be in my mouth; Call me insensitive, but shit happens.... You know where you live and what dangers surround the geographical area you occupy (IE: living beside a giant river) and nobody is financially liable for that but yourself should you choose to settle there.

Id like to know more about the failure of these flood walls and levees as it might shape my opinion a bit, but lawsuits like this are retarded.

[omega_image]

^i'm pretty sure that they're not arguing that the hurricane could have completely been "stopped".

i would assume that they're insisting compensation for a lack of effort on prevention and resolution.

[gnosis]

Defjef: are you deaf?

Look around the web, mate!

The point that is maintained is that the levees/dykes that surround/protect New Orleans, et al, were previously determined by authorities to be sub-standard and needing repair.

_BEFORE_ Katrina.

If federal policies were followed, then, maintained levees would have decreased the extent of damage from Katrina.

look.
LOOK!

Frosty
(waiting for the Big Jiggle in Vangroovy)

[ebbomega]

Yeah, they're not so much pissed about the natural disaster but rather the mismanagement surrounding it.

I imagine a large portion of these damages being cited in the lawsuit are punitive, that is to say more to serve as a lesson to the offender than as a reward for the victim.

[kir mokum]

Originally Posted by Senior

really one of the worst things I've ever seen happen in the World.

did you forget about the tsunami that hit south asia?

[meth0dical]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Yeah, they're not so much pissed about the natural disaster but rather the mismanagement surrounding it.

I imagine a large portion of these damages being cited in the lawsuit are punitive, that is to say more to serve as a lesson to the offender than as a reward for the victim.

with so many billion dollar claims, and the ridiculous quadrillion dollar claim, it leads me to believe they're after a reward rather than making a point.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by DefJef

Im not the only one who thinks lawsuits like this are asinine, am I??

Im rather uneducated on this matter, but from what I gather......a hurricane is an act of God.... OR, a NATURAL DISASTER... isnt it??

Does this mean I can sue the pants off the canadian government when 'the big earthquake' hits Vancouver and the building where my million dollar 1 bedroom apartment is falls to the ground becuase it isnt God-proof?

I dont know enough about this so my foot may already be in my mouth; Call me insensitive, but shit happens.... You know where you live and what dangers surround the geographical area you occupy (IE: living beside a giant river) and nobody is financially liable for that but yourself should you choose to settle there.

Id like to know more about the failure of these flood walls and levees as it might shape my opinion a bit, but lawsuits like this are retarded.

when the big earth quake does hit Vancouver there will probably be lawsuits for all the school children (especially elementary schools) crushed to death. this is because it's been known since the mid 80's that nearly every single public school in Vancouver will collapse in a moderate earth quake. in the mid 90's when the BC Liberals took office they scrapped the seismic upgrading program saying it was to expensive. also included in that was a plan to upgrade all the gas lines city wide so that in the event of an earth quake they don't cause fires. so when all the school kids die and Vancouver burns because it was to costly there will definitely be lawsuits.

as for New Orleans there had been warnings for years that the dike system was grossly inadequate. it was not capable of withstanding the "100 year storm" that they knew was coming. on the other hand in Holland their dikes are capable of withstanding the "1000 year storm." simply put the writing was on the wall. this article published more than a year before the disaster describes Katrina very well, Louisiana Wetlands, Louisiana Bayou, Marsh - National Geographic

and kir mokum no I have not forgotten the tsunami, who could, that hit South East Asia. I fail to see though how that event makes hurricane Katrina any less devastating than it was.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by meth0dical

with so many billion dollar claims, and the ridiculous quadrillion dollar claim, it leads me to believe they're after a reward rather than making a point.

consider that this is the US legal system and that basically this is how it works. people sue for millions for the most retarded shit all the time. consider the case of Jack Ass who is suing MTV's parent company Viacom for copyright infringement over the use of his name for their show, also named, Jackass. also consider that none of the victims drew up these lawsuits, rather they are the work of lawyers.

'Jackass' Sued by a Real Jack Ass.

[kir mokum]

oops, misread your post.