BREAKING: Court rules in favor of New Orleans residents re: "Man-made disaster"

By GottaLaff

Rachel Maddow, just now (I got what I could):

Court rules in favor of NOLA residents re: flooding during Hurricane Katrina.... that it was a "man made disaster". This is a district court ruling. It could have huge implications for the region and issues of accountability.

So essentially, the Army Corps of Engineers were sloppy, and that was one of the elements resulting in the flooding.

UPDATE:

In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement of maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was directly responsible for flood damage of homes in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. could result in the federal government paying $700,000 in damages to three people and a business in those areas, but also sets the stage for judgments against the govenment for damages by as many as 100,000 other residents, businesses and local governments in those areas who filed claims with the corps after Katrina.

If successful, the damage claims could total billions of dollars.

Duval ruled, however, that WDSU-TV anchor Norman Robinson and his wife were not entitled to damages because the corps' dredging of the MR-GO did not affect the levee system that protects eastern New Orleans from hurricane storm surge. That probably means eastern New Orleans residents also would not be able to collect on claims they've filed against the corps, said attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case.

Follow the link for more details.