Appeal Planned After Verdict in Louisiana Flooding Lawsuit

Attorneys who brought a class-action lawsuit against Jefferson Parish say they will appeal a 9-3 jury verdict that found the parish was negligent in its emergency response planning but that the negligence didn’t cause the flooding suffered by tens of thousands of Jefferson property owners during Hurricane Katrina.

Attorney Richard Martin tells The New Orleans Advocate the plaintiffs’ legal team is still working out the details and may even go back to Judge John Peytavin’s court with a post-trial motion first.

The suit sought to find the parish, its drainage district, an insurer and former Parish President Aaron Broussard liable for the flooding because pump-station operators were evacuated 110 miles away as part of the parish’s so-called “doomsday plan” for dealing with an approaching hurricane.