The 3 Quadrillion dollar lawsuit

[Renatus]

Katrina's Victims Demand Huge Checks

NEW ORLEANS (Jan. 9) -- 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.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

What next? Hitler's descendants suing the United states for driving him to commit suicide?

[Slap Your Love]

Even if they won it that would do more harm than good.
Dumbass plaintiff.

[Solumina]

Hey lets ask for more money than the government has.
...fucking idiots

[††BlackRose††]

That's messed up.
When I read the title of the thread I thought it was a joke!
Wow. The governnment does need money.
With stupidity like that how do you expect anyone to have hope in our society. They have to be realistic.

I could rant on and on, but in the end, it's not worth it.

[Renatus]

Here's the link just in case you doubt it any futher.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_...09170409990001

[Delkaetre]

Um... no one seems to have realised that that number is a randomly generated ridiculously huge sum designed to draw attention to the fact that many of Katrina's victims are still without homes, jobs, or any kind of compensation for the property and loved ones lost.
It's not a serious number.

[Green.Lady]

Originally Posted by Renatus

"The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."

Er... slavery?

[Renatus]

Slavery, September 11th, the world wars, the civil war, the revolutionary war, the asian wars, the wars around the Carribean, the great chicago fire, the great San Francisco Earthquake, The flu epidemic, polio, yellow fever,aids, the other disease the future invasion of Canada,

[KontanKarite]

Originally Posted by Green.Lady

Er... slavery?

Mt. St. Helen erupting? In FACT, that fucked up several states if my memory serves me correctly.

[Solumina]

um...I'm going to say that the Great Depression was just a little bit worse than Katrina

[jestercel85]

Not to mention the fact that the people in New Orleans were living in a city that is quite a bit below sea level ON THE COAST! Yes it was a disaster, yes some of them couldn't have afforded to move, but unless they are willing to permanently relocate they should get nothing. If they are just going to get the money and scurry back to rebuild then they should be denied any and all claims they put forth.

You would have to be severely stupid to want to rebuild a city, below sea level, on a coast, after it was totally destroyed by a hurricane and breaking levees. I don't care how much sentimental value it has, nor do I want to hear "But I've lived there my whole life, my family has always been there." All of that is bullshit. These people were just shown what happens when people do stupid things like build that city where it was built. Why redo it? Wouldn't it be easier to just give all your money away, throw your belonging into the sea, and then shoot yourself in the head?

[Renatus]

Well the thing about New Orleans is from the very beginning it has been a key trading point, without it the Mississipi is usless. Thats why it was one of the first cities in the Americas (if you don't count the Native American cities). The sentimental value is just a fringe benifit.

[Renatus]

That is why whenever control of Louisiana territory changed hands New Orleans went with it, the United States didn't make the Louisiana Purchase for the land they bought it for control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans, the land was just a fringe benifit of the Purchase.

[jestercel85]

Originally Posted by Renatus

Well the thing about New Orleans is from the very beginning it has been a key trading point, without it the Mississipi is usless. Thats why it was one of the first cities in the Americas (if you don't count the Native American cities). The sentimental value is just a fringe benifit.

No I meant the sentimental value for the people who were raised there wanting to go back. The ones who are attached to it because it was their childhood home.

[CptSternn]

Aside from slavery, this is a tragedy with an outcome that could have been avoided. The US government is fully responsible for many of the issues which have arisen from the hurricane.

More importantly, what is it now? Only like 15% of the area has been rebuilt and about the same amount of people have returned? When your talking about a major metropolitan area, your talking about hundreds of thousands still displaced, most without any belongings, compensation, or any way to support themselves.

The fact the US government is sending billions overseas for war while at the same time hundreds of thousands of their own people are wondering where their next meal will come from, where they will live, and of course how they plan to support themselves and their families in the future is just plain wrong.

[Tam Li Hua]

I can't even picture that much money.