Judge Tosses Katrina Class Action Suit Against Army Corps

The Army Corps of Engineers may be immune from liability for the breaching of levees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but it doesn't absolve them of their multiple failures to provide a secure flood control system. The Corps is immune under a 1928 law.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval acknowledged Wednesday that the agency failed to properly safeguard the city, but he ruled that the Corps was protected by the Flood Control Act of 1928. It shields the federal government from liability when flood control projects fail.

The Corps designed the levee system that was supposed to protect the low-lying city. But after Katrina stuck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, steel-and-concrete levees eroded and failed in several areas, flooding about 80 percent of the city with water up to 20 feet deep.

In 2007, the Insurance Information Institute estimated insured losses for Katrina across Louisiana at $25.3 billion.

In his ruling, Stanwood said the Corps deserves blame for its role in the flooding even if it can't be held legally responsible.

Billions of dollars were spent on flood control measures in New Orleans, and by the Corps own admission, they were inadequate to protect against a lesser Hurricane, let alone Katrina. The Corps has been rushing to make improvements to the levee system.