Nine years later, Hurricane Katrina victims to get payouts

Residents and business owners in New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 can now apply for compensation from a $14 million settlement fund.

The money is from a settlement reached in 2009 with levee boards in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, and St. Bernard Parish; all three were found responsible for the upkeep of the levees that were destroyed during the hurricane. The funds will be available to residents, businesses, and visitors who were in New Orleans when Katrina hit, with the money coming from insurance policies.

Claims must be filed by April 30, 2015, and the payouts will depend on the number of people who file. Plaintiffs were hoping for more money, but a federal court decided that the Army Corps of Engineers was protected from liability due to a 1928 law that gave the agency immunity for lawsuits seeking damages from flood-control projects that failed, The Associated Press reports.

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