Huricane Katrina Victims Suing Government for HUGE sums!!!

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina's victims have put a price tag on their suffering and it is staggering — including one plaintiff seeking the unlikely sum of $3 quadrillion.

A whopping $3,014,170,389,176,410 is the dollar figure so far sought from some of the largest claims filed against the federal government over damage from the failure of levees and flood walls following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

Of roughly 489,000 total claims, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it has received 247 for at least $1 billion apiece, including the one for $3 quadrillion.

"That's the mother of all high numbers," said Loren Scott, a Baton Rouge-based economist.

For the sake of perspective: A mere $1 quadrillion would dwarf the U.S. gross domestic product, which Scott said was $13.2 trillion in 2007. A stack of one quadrillion pennies would reach Saturn.

Some residents may have grossly exaggerated their claims to send a message to the corps, which has accepted blame for poorly designing the failed levees.

"I understand the anger," Scott said. "I also understand it's a negotiating tactic: Aim high and negotiate down."

Daniel Becnel, Jr., a lawyer who said his clients have filed more than 60,000 claims, said measuring Katrina's devastation in dollars and cents is a nearly impossible task.

"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."

The corps released zip codes, but no names, for the 247 claims of at least $1 billion. The list includes a $77 billion claim by the city of New Orleans. Fourteen involve a wrongful death claim. Fifteen were filed by businesses, including several insurance companies.

Little is known about the person who claimed $3 quadrillion. It was filed in Baker, 93 miles northwest of New Orleans. Baker is far from the epicenter of Katrina's destruction, but the city has a trailer park where hundreds of evacuees have lived since the storm.

Katrina, which is blamed for more than 1,600 deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, is considered the most destructive storm to ever hit the U.S. It caused at least $60 billion in insured losses and could cost Gulf Coast states up to $125 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Most of the claims were filed before a deadline that coincided with Katrina's second anniversary, but the Corps is still receiving them — about 100 claims have arrived over the past three weeks — and is feeding them into a computer database.

The Corps said it isn't passing judgment on the merits of each claim. Federal courts are in charge of deciding if a claim is valid and how much compensation is warranted.

"It's important to the person who filed it, so we're taking every single claim seriously," Corps spokeswoman Amanda Jones said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_re_us/katrina_flood_lawsuits

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Okay, generally I don't post this kind of thing here, but I felt this would probably be a good place to rant.

One person asking for over three quadrillion dollars?! Let's look at that using numals, shall we?

$3,000,000,000,000,000.00

This is for one person who suffered through a hurricane over two and a half years ago. Why hasn't this person picked up, dusted themselves off, wrung out their clothes, and moved on with their life? That's what people usually DO after Hurricanes... EXCEPT in New Orleans!

Actually, I like that you've posted this. I saw this article this morning, and my jaw basically dropped. This person must know that there's no way they're going to get the $3 quadrillion, and if they seriously think they will...they should probably be shot for their idiocy.

I also think it's ridiculous that 247 have asked for $1 billion or more. Seriously, who had so much damage done to them that they would need that much money anyway?! I believe that people who were affected should be compensated, but they should be given what they NEED in order to re-establish themselves, and nothing more.

Obviously, some people can't simply pick themselves back up and move on with their life, instead they have to blame the government for every one of their problems. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the people who suffered as a result of this hurricane, and I know it would be difficult to get their lives back to normal...or as close to normal as possible. I'm all for helping them out, but I will say again, this is just ridiculous.

I have to say I agree with HeavensGaze. I understand that it was an unfortunate event, and killed, harmed, and displaced thousands of people, but 3 quadrillion dollars?

I don't remember seeing people who lost homes and stuff in the Colorado Hayman Fire suing the government for 3 quadrillion. The fire didn't cause near as much damage as Katrina (Hayman was about 39 million dollars. But still more money than I'd know what to do with.)

And the Hayman Fire victims got jack shit, but a fight with the federal government for compensation.

You know what? This will sound heartless, this will sound mean, and maybe even evil to some people, but if human beings cannot learn to pick themselves up after hard times, either with government help or without, the human race in total is simply doomed. We will die of our own stupidity.

Ok, I'm done now.

When I've debated in the past, and even sometimes currently, I like to use numbers to denote different points, so even though there's not a real debate here, I'm going to do that.

1. Everyone in this entire country felt for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane and the floods that followed were enough to test the resolve of any man. However, what matters in times like these is how we react, which brings me to point 2.

2. As I said above, in other places in the country which are hit even more frequently by hurricanes, you don't catch people sitting around in trailers, whining about how they've been wronged by the federal government. In those places, people pick themselves up, dust themselves off, wring out their clothes, and rebuild, and then when they're done rebuilding, they help others to rebuild.

3. In New Orleans, however, we did not have this happen. What we had were many people who simply sat on their rears in their FEMA trailers, costing the rest of us thousands upon thousands of dollars. There was an untold amount of stealing and other less-than-scrupulous activity after the flooding, as everyone took on a "me first" mentality. My uncle was part of FEMA, and he told me about much of this first-hand.

4. After two and a half years, I have no sympathy left for these people. Those who have not moved on by now, or at least have not begun the process of rebuilding and moving on, have neglected to do so by their own choice. They are simply milking this for all it is worth. And who do they think will pay their quadrillions of dollars? Not the government! Not congress! Not George Bush! The ones who will pay will be you, and me, and yes, even those who receive the big checks, IF they receive them.

5. I don't see people wanting to be compensated so they can move on. I see people with dollar signs in their eyes. I see greed.

3 quadrillion...definitely an unreasonable sum, at least IMO. Though I won't slander the victims' characters (seeing as I don't know them and thus, in my view; I don't have the right), this is awfully suspect...unfortunately suspect.

I agree with you, Fire. This just smells like greed to me.