Trouble the Water

Don't think I've heard much about this film...



Trouble the Water: Coming to Canal Place September 19.

Katrinaversary

I really think that New Orleans might as well shut down for the day every day on August 29 for the next ten years. This morning it took me thirty fucking minutes to get out of Mid City because Canal was blocked off at City Park. I was staying right down the street there, so I didn't know it until I had made a block and had to go back to where I started. Then I saw a school bus get into an accident. (Yes, I know, the new memorial was unveiled today. But some of us do have to work.)

Last year I couldn't even get on the interstate to go to work because President Bush was in town so all on ramps were blocked.

Yes, please, remember everything that happened and those that we lost, but for the love of god please don't make my life more difficult than it already is!

Sher case decision handed down

Today the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a decision stating that the "flood" that occurred as a result of the levee breach is not covered by homeowner's insurance:

The state high court reversed decisions by a state trial court and an appeals court that said the definition of the word "flood" was ambiguous in most all-risk homeowners policies, and by law, the policyholders' interpretation had to be followed.

The high court said the lower courts should have looked at the "plain, ordinary and generally prevailing definition" of the word flood.

"Contrary to the court of appeal's reasoning, this definition (of flood) does not change or depend on whether the event is a natural disaster or a man-made one -- in either case, a large amount of water covers an area that is usually dry," the court opinion said.

Justice Chet Traylor of Winnsboro, in writing the majority decision, went a step further, saying the flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was not actually caused by man, only aided by human errors.

"The flood was caused by Hurricane Katrina, not by man," Traylor wrote. "The levees did not cause the flood, they, whether through faulty design, faulty construction, or some other reason, failed to prevent the flood."

[Times-Pic]

For some more thoughtful insight, I would direct you to keep your eyes on the Insurance Coverage Law Blog, actually based out of Oregon, but David Rossmiller has done a phenomenal job covering the insurance aspects of cases such as the Sher case. You can read the decision itself here.

The dummies on the nola.com comments section are having a field day, as usual.

sugar daddy

Wanting to post this earlier, but busy at work.

An article in USA Today talks about how so many lawsuits have been filed against the government in Katrina-related claims. This is my fav:

One claim alone seeks $3 quadrillion in damages, almost all of it for personal injury. That's a 3 followed by 15 zeros — about 250 times the nation's gross domestic product. A resident of a section of New Orleans that includes the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward filed another claim for $6 trillion, double the annual federal budget.

What attorney in his or her right mind would ever file that?

UPDATE: The Times-Pic has more. Joe Bruno sounds brilliant as always. Maybe he filed that suit, seeing as it is too big for state court where he is barred.

Duh

Survey: Many believe N.O. worse off than it is

No shit. I've got people contemplating a visit, wondering if it's safe, if they will be walking through gutted houses, if there are "still" water lines along Bourbon Street. From the article:

Roughly one-fourth believed parts of New Orleans remain under water; one-third believed the tourist-oriented French Quarter was one of the hardest-hit areas when, in fact, the Quarter was largely unharmed. The floodwaters, too, are long gone.

"It's amazing," Sims said of those responses. "But it just goes to show how little people really know."

Why is that? Because the media sensationalized things and then didn't give the same attention to the recovery? Out of sight out of mind?

It's so frustrating sometimes. People think that I live in a third-world city still.

FEMA: Fake Entertaining Media Announcements

The executive branch is starting their Monday off with a big old "WTF?!" after FEMA holds a press conference on the California wildfires, but forgets to invite the press. What to you do when you forget to invite all the important people to your party? You invite your friends and EMPLOYEES of course! (Or at least that's what my boss does when not enough local celebrities RSVP to his political fundraiser invites.) So some FEMA staffers and probably interns just asked fake questions. Needless to say, Michael Chertoff is ANGRY. [Seattle Times]

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Michael Chertoff said.

Peep the vid from the most scandalous FEMA office party since Michael Brown's emails following Hurricane Katrina:

more Hurricane Katrina insurance matters...

5th Circuit rules for Nationwide in Katrina case. Take home message:

The company says its anti-concurrent causation provision works this way: If a policyholder has wind coverage and not flood insurance, then the company is not responsible for damage that comes from a combination of wind and water. A ruling that the clause is ambiguous could have been used against the company in lawsuits involving so-called "slab cases," in which a home was reduced to its foundation, Hartwig said.

As noted in a previous post, the federal court has also ruled that insurance companies are not liable for flood damage - the court did not distinguish between the flood as a result of the levees being overcome (water topping the levees) and the levees being breached (levees were broken and let water through). However, there is a pending case in the state court going to trial in September that may reverse the decision.

And although I am a bit belated in posting this, following the previous LA Citizens discussion, here is the link to their, uh, press release, if you will, confirming their extension of the prescription deadline to September 4 and the other details to go along with it.

Deadline to file suit tomorrow

Doug Sunseri of Nicaud, Sunseri & Fradella is currently on WWL giving free legal advice on how to file your Hurricane Katrina claim and the like.

More on the deadline later.

One a more serious note...

* The City Council has approved the use of $1 million of city money to go towards a memorial honoring the unclaimed victims of Hurricane Katrina. [WAFB] At least they're doing something useful.

* In one of the most disgusting sentences I've heard come out of New Orleans in a long time, a judge has sentenced Jarvis Turner, a 27 year-old accused of robbing $75 from a cab-driver at gun point 3 years ago, to a year in jail for every dollar he stole. That's 75 years. Our most high-profile white collar criminals like Glenn Haydel and Stan Barre can serve little to no time for stealing millions of OUR money, and this guy gets 75 years. I am most definitely not saying what he did was condonable - but this is certainly not an eye-for-an-eye sentence, and I think our court systems money and time would be better spent on addressing our real, more pressing problems. [WDSU]

Katrina deadline looms...

If you don't already know, the deadline for filing suit against your insurance company for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina is August 28, although it appears that there is some discrepancy and suit may be filed as late as August 30.

However, if you are insured by Louisiana Citizens you can take another route. They have extended their deadline for prescription until September 4. Here is how it works: You have until that date to set up a mediation in order to settle your claim. Your mediation does not have to be scheduled before the September 4 date. You have until September 4 to notify Citizens that you have scheduled a mediation in your case. Don't fret, though, if you do not settle your claim at the time of mediation you have 30 DAYS to get a lawyer and continue on the tired and true road to trial. If you go past that time, then you're SOL.

Likewise, State Farm will attempt to settle any Hurricane Katrina claims scheduled to be mediated after the deadline as long as they are calendared prior to August 28.

Mediation? Wtf? Basically, you can go to a couple of places around town (AAA, MAPS, ADR, etc) and they'll get you and the insurance adjuster in a room and try to settle the case by talking numbers, contents list, wind v. flood, etc. If you settle, sign a paper, you get x amount of days to back out, and the insurance company cuts you a check.

Not impressed? File suit. Not sure what to do? Call the Louisiana State Bar for some free legal advice at 1-800-310-7029. If they can't help you, they can atleast point you in the right direction.

See also: Lawyers rush to beat Katrina lawsuit deadline [CityBusiness]

Visitors, visitors

According to WWL, a delegation of 15 House members, led by Nancy Pelosi, will be making trek down to good ol' New Orleans and the Gulf Coast beginning on Sunday. The list of those visiting has not been released yet, but I have to wonder if there will be any newcomers since there are many Congressmen and women who have yet to visit the area.

No money for flooding

Holy shit - Court rules against homeowners in flood insurance case

But the appeals panel concluded that "even if the plaintiffs can prove that the levees were negligently designed, constructed, or maintained and that the breaches were due to this negligence, the flood exclusions in the plaintiffs' policies unambiguously preclude their recovery."

"Regardless of what caused the failure of the flood-control structures that were put in place to prevent such a catastrophe, their failure resulted in a widespread flood that damaged the plaintiffs' property," and policies clearly excluded water damage caused by floods, King wrote.