Hurricane Katrina Flooded Courts with Lawsuits

Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage as it is, but now it flooded courts with lawsuits. About four months after the Hurricane Katrina wrecked the city of New Orleans, Bruno & Bruno, a local law firm run by four brothers which specializes in class-action lawsuits, has filed dozens of lawsuits that reflect the rising frustration of owners who lost homes, jobs, and family members in the ecological destruction. The targets of the lawsuits include local government boards of New Orleans, an oil company, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Thousands of Katrina’s victims are suing over flood damage, alleged wrongful deaths, ruined oyster beds, insurance settlement disputes, oil spills and eroded wetlands. Now, local courts are struggling to catch up with the huge amount of lawsuits, and trials.

Defendants have not yet responded to all of the lawsuits. Meanwhile, thousands of insurance claims are piling up in the state courts. In fact, more than 50 insurance companies have been sued for refusing to pay for the damage. I can understand why the citizens of New Orleans, who lost everything, are now suing. After all, New Orleans has an estimated of 150,000 to 190,000 residents. This number dropped like a rock from the population of New Orleans in 2004 which was 462,000 people.

No one is sure how long it is going to take for courts to decided and answer to every single one of these lawsuits, however, there were already many lawsuits answered with hearings and trials. The fury from the citizens is perfectly natural for most citizens who suffered from Katrina because of the fact that they’re insurance companies didn’t pay them all that they were entitled to. At a time of need, they weren’t helped.