Month: August 2008

Rebecca Mowbray – "Insurance may not cover as much under Gustav"

Sop passed this on as he headed back outside – and 100 or so miles north of him, I’ve got a little more time and insurance on my mind. Actually, I’ve had reinsurance on my mind – wondering just what risk there was to transfer. According to Mowbray’s story, a lot of risk has transferred to homeowners since Katrina.

If Hurricane Gustav hits Louisiana, homeowners will discover that they have less insurance coverage than they did during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and they’ll be reaching into their own pockets to cover damage.

In the past three years, the use of hurricane, windstorm or named-storm deductibles, which means that insurance doesn’t kick in until homeowners have paid a percentage of the insured value of the home as a deductible when a storm hits, have become commonplace, and can easily add up to the cost of a new roof.

At the same time, some 20,000 homeowners and 6,500 businesses find themselves with insurance policies that don’t cover wind damage at all, forcing them to buy “wind-only” policies from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-sponsored insurer of last resort. Continue reading “Rebecca Mowbray – "Insurance may not cover as much under Gustav"”

Gustav: If you are evacuating to the east (Updated)

I-10 is girdlock from exit 16 in Hancock County to the Mobile tunnel. Traffic was also reportedly very heavy on US 90 eastbound.

MDOT could do a better job updating their website:

MDOT has not entered any traffic alerts related to this event at this time.

They do have this press releases:

Traffic Update on Mississippi Interstate Highway Systems Due to Evacuations and Contraflow Operations

Due to evacuations that are in place due to Hurricane Gustav and contraflow operations that have been activated, below is a status update on the following interstate highway systems in Mississippi.

  • Interstates 59 & 55 are being contraflowed at this time and traffic is posing some delays.
  • There is a major traffic delay at Interstate 59 at Meridian.
  • Interstate 10 into Alabama is open and flowing adequately.
  • Highway 49 is open with moderate delays.
  • Interstate 20 near Meridian has traffic delays.

Then they link to an empty press release saying to avoid I-10 eastbound:

MS Highways 15 and 57 to MS Highway 26 east to Lucedale and MS Highway 63 to Lucedale and Highway 98 will take you to north Mobile and I-65.

If you are headng North on MS Highway 603/53 to Poplarville consider going into town and taking US Highway 11 to Lumberton and MS Highway 13 to Columbia and eventually Mendenhall.

The bottom line is the line to get through the I-10 tunnel in Mobile is very long.

Update:

I just heard from a friend who is on Hwy 26 in George County that tells me there is heavy eastbound traffic but it is moving at the speed limit of 55 mph with the exception of a 10 minute bottleneck at the traffic light at the crossing of Hwys 57/26.

Another friend tells me traffic on Hwy 603 northbound is light north of I-10.

Gustav on my mind- UPDATED 5x "the right side of a hurricane is the wrong side to be on"

Moved the tracker Sop posted up so it would be easier to find as, like many of you, I’ve got Gustav on my mind. According the this story just posting on the Times Picayune

“The bottom line is that what Katrina and Rita didn’t destroy in 2005, this storm has the potential to do,”

Gustav

UPDATE: just had message that footprint of Gustav is much larger than Katrina – meaning its going to step on a lot more folks when it lands. Just thought I’d add reminder that “the right side of a hurricane is the wrong side to be on” – that’s why the Coast of Mississippi saw so much damage. Remember NOLA flooding was after Katrina.

2nd update Hurricane-force winds will hit New Orleans, surge flooding threat rises for West Bank

The 10 p.m. forecast for Hurricane Gustav calls for its landfall to be just east of Morgan City early Monday afternoon as an intense Category 4 hurricane, a track that would bring hurricane force winds over most of the New Orleans area.

The eastern jog also would increase the potential for storm surge flooding of West Bank communities. The Slidell office of the National Weather Service this evening warned that it expects between 15 feet and 20 feet of storm surge near and to the right of the hurricane’s center as it goes ashore.

While it’s still unclear how high the water would be on the West Bank, farther away from the storm’s center, it could be high enough to overtop the incomplete levee system in that area.

Moving the diagonal path Gustav will take closer to New Orleans also increases the potential of surge water rising in Lake Borgne, the Industrial Canal and Lake Pontchartrain, which could test levees and walls in St. Bernard, eastern New Orleans and the Lower and Upper 9th Wards, as well as areas south of Slidell and Madisonville.

Heavy rainfall also is expected to accompany Gustav, with between 10 and 15 inches of rain expected in areas nearest its center. Continue reading “Gustav on my mind- UPDATED 5x "the right side of a hurricane is the wrong side to be on"”

Relators file Reply re: State Farm's opposition to release of documents for discovery

State Farm’s Response Memorandum severely complicates a simple request made by the Relators pursuant to this Court’s August 6, 2008 Order.

Einstein lives on in the Relators’ Reply supporting their Motion for Expedited Document Requests and addressing objections raised in State Farm’s Response.

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.

It took fewer than five pages of text (with footnotes and obligatory form deleted) for the Rigsbys counsel to make a simple but compelling argument supporting their simple request – and “a lot of courage” to move in the opposite direction with the ease apparent in the document filed today.

The Relators tried to make their request as simple and clear as possible by mirroring the words of Judge Acker’s preliminary injunction.

To make this even simpler for State Farm, however, the Relators are willing to streamline their request even further to the following: the set of documents that State Farm received pursuant to Judge Acker’s July 1, 2008 order.

This request now consists of nothing more than whatever discrete set of documents State Farm in fact received. Accordingly, State Farm can no longer argue regarding the scope of the request.

More than just courage, this “opposite direction” demonstrates the confidence the Rigsbys new counsel have in the merits of the qui tam claim. Continue reading “Relators file Reply re: State Farm's opposition to release of documents for discovery”

The Clarion Ledger Nails it Again for the Slabbed and the Coast

As long as Jim writes them we’ll be linking them as our friends in central Mississippi show us they not only get it but also care.

Three years ago today, Mississippi was a far cry from what it is today – with many scars and, hopefully, some lessons learned When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast bearing a massive tidal surge and 125-mph winds on Aug. 29, 2005, the refrain had always been that nothing could be as bad as Camille.

Camille, which struck Aug. 17, 1969, was the benchmark by which all other American hurricanes were measured. Although not as powerful at landfall as Camille – one of only three Category 5 storms ever to hit U.S. shores – Katrina set a new benchmark.

Katrina’s 35-mile-wide eye, with hurricane winds extending 125 miles from the center, engulfed a much wider area from Alabama to Louisiana, and sustained impact 100 miles inland. Two-thirds of Mississippi was declared a disaster. It’s destruction far surpassed Camille’s $11 billion in today’s dollars, up to $81.2 billion so far. Continue reading “The Clarion Ledger Nails it Again for the Slabbed and the Coast”

Breaking: Walker sets limits on deposition of Rigsby sisters in text only order

It’s taken some time – too much IMO – but we’re starting to see the level playing field of true justice surface in McIntosh.

In a text only order, Judge Walker set limits on next week’s deposition of the Rigsby sisters – if the shock of being granted this measure of respect doesn’t render the sisters speechless, each will answer question for a total of 2.5 hours when depositions are taken next week.

State Farm remains limited to the narrowly defined one-hour Walker previously ordered.  His text only Order granting in part and denying in part Renfroe’s Motion to Compel depositions of Cori Rigsby and Kerri Rigsby gives Renfroe little more:

E.A. Renfroe & Company, Inc. shall be allowed one and one-half hours to depose each of the Rigsbys.

Questioning shall be as to areas not covered in prior depositions, although questioning as to areas previously covered shall be allowed if new information and/or documents have surfaced.

There’s a lesson here that should not be lost. Who has something to hide, the Rigsby sisters or the duet of Renfroe-State Farm?

…the Rigsbys do not object to Renfroe deposing them on September 3, subject to the same limitations imposed on State Farm. Indeed, because this Court has already held that those deposition topics are timely for State Farm due to the circumstances, the Rigsbys presume that the same would be true for Renfroe.

Renfroe opposes any suggestion that the Relators should be given leave of court to conduct expedited discovery from any party at this stage of the litigation…which is clearly improper as shown in State Farm’s response.

What’s to hide? What and who do the duet want to remain “undiscovered” before Judge Senter considers the dispositive motions that could keep evidence hidden forever?  Maybe Dana and Tammy – the friends [sic] of Continue reading “Breaking: Walker sets limits on deposition of Rigsby sisters in text only order”

Fit for the King – a personal perspective on Qui Tam

A prize-winning photograph it is not; but, I love the way this snapshot links the many chapters of the Katrina story including this personal perspective on qui tam.

An abbreviation, qui tam translates to [he] who sues for the King and himself.  In our country, King represents the government.  However, ours is a government of, by and for the people. We the people are King; and, our homes – humble, grand, or Katrina cottage – our castles.

The proper title of the Katrina qui tam case would be Nowdy, Sop, Belle… ex rel Rigsby. Of course,  it would have to include another 300 million plus names and that’s just not possible.  Consequently, we the people are presented by the single name USA.

One and all, Cori and Kerri included, we are kings with a Constitutional right to own property once reserved for royalty.  However, when Katrina washed away the evidence of wind damage to many of our castles, they copied the only evidence that remained and have lived with allegations it was stolen thereafter. Continue reading “Fit for the King – a personal perspective on Qui Tam”