Levee Litigation Group Launches Campaign to Advise Victims of Hurricane Katrina to Protect their Legal Rights

New Orleans, August 30, 2006 – The Levee Litigation Group (www.leveelaw.com) announces that it has launched a campaign to encourage victims of Hurricane Katrina who lived in Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish to protect their legal rights against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (U.S. Government) as well as the related contractors, engineers and subcontractors by immediately filing Standard Form 95. This form is required for Katrina victims who wish to make a Federal Torts Claims Act against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Hurricane victims can obtain more information and download a copy of Standard Form 95 and get mailing instructions by visiting www.leveelaw.com.

The Levee Litigation Group is comprised of the following law firms: Lambert & Nelson, Reich & Binstock, Law Office of Daniel Becnel, Jr., Darleen M. Jacobs, Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshaue, Ashton R. O’Dwyer, Jr., Bruno & Bruno, Walter Dumas, F. Gerald Maples, Parker & Waichman, LLP, Fayard & Honeycutt, Murphy Law Firm, Jim S. Hall & Associates and deGravelles, Palmintier, Holthaus and Frugé.

On June 1, 2006, the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged responsibility for the flooding in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. A 6,000 page-plus report on the tragedy, prepared by the 150-member Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force assembled and headed by the Corps, said the flooding was a result of failed levees which were built in a disjointed fashion using outdated methods. The report concluded that the levees were inconsistent in quality, materials and design and that the inconsistencies left vulnerable gaps that were exploited by the storm. Engineers did not take into account the poor soil quality underneath New Orleans, the report said, and their failure to account for the sinking of land caused some sections to be as much as two feet lower than other parts. The report also blamed four breaches in canals that run through New Orleans on foundation failures that were not considered in the original design of these structures. These breaches caused two-thirds of the flooding in New Orleans.

This report followed a critical report by the University of California at Berkeley led Independent Levee Investigation Team. This Investigative team was comprised of members of academia, private industry and state and federal agencies. These investigators concluded that the devastation Katrina inflicted on New Orleans was caused by the failure of the system, calling it “unfinished” and “impotent.” The group said that floodwalls failed because they weren’t built safely enough to begin with, and that some levees washed away, not because they were first overpowered by a storm surge, but because they were improperly built of sandy soils that failed before overtopping occurred. The group was highly critical of the Army Corps of Engineers, calling them “dysfunctional” and “unreliable.” The team stated, "New Orleans flooded not so much because there was a hurricane, but because of human error, poor decisions and judgments, and failed policies.”

Hurricane Katrina damaged 169 miles of the 350-mile hurricane system that protects New Orleans and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths and $100-$200 billion in property damage in Louisiana alone. The Levee Litigation Group is representing individuals who suffered physical and psychological injuries, death of family members, property damage and loss of employment as a result of flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. For more information on the Levee Litigation Group, or to request a free case evaluation, please visit www.leveelaw.com or call 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636).