Hurricane Katrina, Rita Levee Breach Class Action Settlement

A court has approved a revised class action settlement related to the alleged failures and overtopping of levees and other flood control structures during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. If you were affected by flooding from Hurricane Katrina and/or Hurricane Rita, you may be eligible for compensation from the class action settlement.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005 and Hurricane Rita made landfall on Sept. 24, 2005. The levee breach class action lawsuit alleged that levees and other water and flood control structures in the affected areas failed and/or were overtopped during the hurricanes because they were not properly designed, inspected or maintained. The plaintiffs allege that this failure caused them to suffer property damage, personal injury and other losses.

The settling defendants claim that the levees failed for reasons beyond their control and maintain that they did not do anything wrong. However, the Orleans Levee District, the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District, the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District, the Board of Commissioners of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District, the East Jefferson Levee District, the Board of Commissioners of the East Jefferson Levee District and their insurance company St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company have agreed to settle the levee breach class action lawsuit.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members of the levee breach class action settlement include all legal persons and entities who (a) at the time of Hurricane Katrina and/or Hurricane Rita (1) were located, present or residing in the Hurricane Affected Geographic Area, or (2) owned, leased, possessed, used or otherwise had any interest in homes, places of business or other immovable or movable property on or in the Hurricane Affected Geographic Area,  and (b) who incurred any losses, damages and/or injuries arising from, in any manner related to, or connected in any way with Hurricane Katrina and/or Hurricane Rita and any alleged levee failures that originated from, over, under or through the levees under the authority and/or control of all or any of the levee district defendants.

There are three subclasses for the levee breach class action settlement:

• Subclass 1: (Lake Borgne Basin Levee District) – the entirety of St. Bernard Parish
• Subclass 2: (East Jefferson Levee District) – the entirety of Jefferson Parish plus a portion of Orleans parish (see distribution model on the settlement website)
• Subclass 3: (Orleans Levee District) – the entirety of Orleans Parish plus portions of Jefferson Parish and St Bernard Parish (see distribution model on the settlement website)

A PDF of the distribution model is available here. The geographic areas for the different Subclasses are also viewable on pages 8-12 of the distribution protocol document.

Potential Award

Varies.

Benefits each Class Member will be eligible to receive from the levee breach class action settlement will be calculated based on a Distribution Model. For each valid claim, points will be calculated under the following categories:

Individual Claims:

• Property Damage (Residential)
• Contents Damage (Residential)
• Other Individual Claims:
  • Resident Claims
  • Non-Resident Claims
  • Visitor Claims
• Death Claims
  • Survival Claims
  • Wrongful Death Claims

Commercial/Business Claims:

• Property Damage (Commercial)
• Contents (Commercial)
• Loss of Business Income

All points assigned to a valid claim will be added together to create a point value. The monetary value of a point will be different for each Subclass and will be based upon the total funds available for each Subclass. The amount of compensation each Class Member will be eligible to receive depends on the total number of claims submitted.

Proof of Claim

Class Members must complete a proof of claim form and all requested documentation to be eligible for payment from the levee breach class action settlement.

Claim Form

Claim Form Deadline

4/30/2015

Case Name

Vodanovich v. Boh Brothers Construction Co. LLC, et al., Case No. 05-4191, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Final Hearing

9/23/2013

UPDATE on JULY 28, 2017: According to the settlement website, Levee Breach settlement checks will be mailed on July 31, 2017.  Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our  Facebook page.

Settlement Website

www.LeveeBreachClass.com

Claims Administrator

Levee Breach Claim Center
P.O. Box 64181
St. Paul, MN 55164-0181

Class Counsel

BECNEL LAW FIRM LLC
BRUNO & BRUNO
DUMAS & ASSOCIATES LAW FIRM LLC
FAYARD & HONEYCUTT
JACOBS SARRAT LOVELACE & HARRIS
LAMBERT & NELSON
GAINSBURGH BENJAMIN DAVID MEUNIER & WARSHAUER LLC
ANDRY LAW FIRM
LEVIN PAPANTONIO THOMAS MITCHELL ECHSNER & PROCTOR PA
DOMENGEAUX WRIGHT ROY & EDWARDS LLC

Defense Counsel

PHELPS DUNBAR LLP