I’ve joked about plaintiffs asking for a “squillion gazillion” dollars instead of other effectively fictional numbers, but one plaintiff has actually done it. One Baker, Louisiana, Katrina plaintiff (earlier on Overlawyered and Point of Law) suing the Army Corps of Engineers is asking for 3 quadrillion dollars—though he would presumably settle for one third that amount, which, at $3,000,000,000,000,000.00 would be over 200 times the annual $13 trillion gross domestic product of the United States. 246 other plaintiffs (including the City of New Orleans, which asked for “only” $77 billion, notwithstanding a taxpayer-funded bailout of tens of billions for a city built beneath sea level) are asking for over a billion each. [AP; TortsProf]
11 Comments
Yeah, I suppose we should all be shocked at the demand–but it’s all about headline grabbing, and it worked.
With due respect to Katrina’s victims and/or those of the Army Corps of Engineers, countless others in other circumstances have suffered tragedies of innumerable causes for which there may or may not be legal remedies available.
Some just take their lumps, however painful, without legal remedy allowing them fantastic wealth.
Just ask for a new house, and get on with life like the rest of us.
How can I get in on some of this action? I was in Indiana during the whole event, but I saw it on TV…and I was impacted by it; I mean I feel bad for those people… that’s got to count for something. Is there some 800 number I can call? Please advise, I have bills to pay and need to shift the burden somewhere.
I’d be curious to know current estimates for the entire amount of money in the world. I’d guess that a guadrillion is more by at least one order of magnitude.
So the article quotes one of these guys as saying nothing in the history of the country can compare to Katrina? That’s a bit of a stretch to say the least. I’d say nothing compares to the silliness of build a city below sea level on the coast, not leaving when told to do so, and then demanding it be rebuilt better than it was at taxpayer expense.
Life is tough and these people all need to suck it up a little.
Commentor,
Farther down the page, you can find a GWP here:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/xx.html
According to Fox News, if the total amount was converted to pennies, stacked side-by-side, they would reach Saturn. Now, is that stacked like this: OOOOOOO or this: IIIIIII ?
Should have asked for a Google.
The first commenter is right: it’s about the headlines. Also, the plaintiffs were instructed that, while they may well be awarded a lower sum than they ask for, there’s no way they’ll get more. Hence, the padding.
As far as nothing in the history of the country comparing, how about 200,000 homes destroyed, 24,000 businesses, 250,000 people displaced? Because of a flood caused by shoddy government engineering — which the ACOE admitted was their fault? And let’s quash this myth of people not leaving: over 80% of the population evacuated, which is FAR more than pre-storm estimates (FEMA estimated about 50% evacuation a year before the storm),
No one here really expects a quadrillion dollars. We’re hoping for some compensation and for some levees built they way they were supposed to have been built in the first place.
People here have gotten on with their lives, and we’ve sucked up more than you could imagine. It’s time for someone else to do a little sucking. Up.
greap,
I agree with you.
The government had no business using tax dollars to build that levy in the first place. It is ABSURD to have them rebuild it. Why should they put my family on the hook to pay off possible claims through taxes? If people really want to live in a disaster waiting to happen, we can let them foot the bill next time. Pay it off and GET OUT. Let the Big Easy rebuild and insure itself. No more Federal tinkering or assumption of risk.
I like your thinking!
gregp,
Your last sentence is almost frightening. Why should someone else (the taxpayers) have to “suck it up” because some people opt to reside in an obviously dangerous locale?
Mother Nature will probably be able to overcome any structure we build, so it may be time to rethink the vast sums of money still being spent to rebuild areas that are at-or-below sea level, spending instead to move to safer ground.
What occurred with Katrina was truly horrible, but no one is at fault; and we should make sure we don’t allow for a reoccurrance.
Last two commenters are missing the point: Katrina did not do the damage. The failure of the levees did. The levees were built and maintained by the ACOE. They claimed they would withstand a hurricane; they did not, and it was because they were improperly built and maintained. Other ACOE projects, the the MR-GO, also contributed. THAT is what needs to be fixed by the feds. There are many examples worldwide of levee systems which do the job, so it’s not a matter of there being no solution.
New Orleans is the biggest port system in the world, and probably the busiest in America before the storm. Do you really think America can afford to shut down the only port at the mouth of the Mississippi?
BTW, there are very few parts of the US that are immune to disaster, natural or otherwise. When the flood come somewhere else, or the fires, or the earthquakes, will this “to hell with them” attitude be directed toward those victims? Or is it just us, being all lazy and no-count?
Also BTW: virtually all port cities are at or below sea level. New Orleans is only partially below sea level; ports such as Boston, New York and Miami are below sea level.