Katrina News

No Decision Made on Louisiana Citizens Judgment Appeal

Commissioner Jim Donelon says a decision won’t be made until next week on whether the state’s property insurer of last resort will pursue a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of a $93 million judgment against the company. Donelon said that his …

Judge Frees $100M in Louisiana Citizens’ Claims Dispute

The governing board of Louisiana’s property insurer of last resort held a special meeting on Jan. 31 to discuss how to deal with a judge’s order that lifted a freeze on more than $100 million at issue in a long-running …

6 Years Later, Katrina Victims Fight FEMA Debts

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency mailed out 83,000 debt notices this year to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 storms, one of the letters showed up in David Bellinger’s mailbox. Bellinger, who is blind, needed a friend to …

Louisiana Citizens Owes More than $100M to Policyholders, High Court Says

Louisiana’s highest court has reinstated a nearly $100 million judgment against the state’s property insurer of last resort in a class action lawsuit stemming from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Louisiana Supreme Court on Dec. 16 issued a judgment that …

Corps Says It’s not to Blame for Katrina Flooding

Justice Department lawyers argued at trial on Dec. 12 that there is little evidence a shipping channel dug decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers contributed significantly to the castastrophic flooding after Hurricane Katrina that swamped St. Bernard Parish …

Louisiana Commissioner Urges Policyholders to Claim Citizens Rebate

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Department of Revenue Deputy Assistant Secretary Gary Matherne are urging those who have had a property and casualty insurance policy on their property during the last four years to claim the rebate for the …

Louisiana’s Sen. Landrieu Announces $33.9M for Hurricane Katrina Recovery

U.S. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., has announced more than $33.9 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to repair New Orleans’ damaged water system, Plaquemines Parish’s Venice Boat Harbor and Orleans …

Mississippi High Court Due to Rule in Wind-Water Insurance Case

A decision is pending from the Mississippi Supreme Court in another wind vs. water case, this one involving a Pascagoula home subjected to 6.3 feet of storm surge. The National Flood Insurance Program paid Jackson County sheriff’s deputy Michael Robichaux …

6 Years After Katrina, New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward Still Bleak

In New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, the grasses grow taller than people and street after street is scarred by empty decaying houses, the lives that once played out inside their walls hardly imaginable now. St. Claude Avenue, the once moderately …

Louisiana’s Suit Against Katrina Whistleblowers Dismissed

A federal judge on Aug. 24 dismissed a lawsuit by the state of Louisiana accusing two self-described whistleblowers of illegally copying and circulating documents containing confidential information about homeowners applying to a Hurricane Katrina grant program. U.S. District Judge James …