Nearly two and a half years ago a medium grade Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and the surrounding area wreaking havoc. Even with all of the wind and water damage, it was nothing compared to what was about to happen the next day when the levees broke. Sixteen hundred Americans perished in the most horrific natural calamity to hit the United States, ever. At this point the government has hardly done anything to help the victims of the storm. Now they want to claim their damages. Certainly the monetary cost is in the billions or hundreds of billions, but could we be talking quadrillions?
From MSNBC:
The total number — $3,014,170,389,176,410 — is the dollar figure so far sought from some 489,000 claims filed against the federal government over damage from the failure of levees and flood walls following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.Of the total number of 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.
The mother of all storms helped cause that number, but we know there will never be a payout that comes close to that figure. Of course you can't even put a dollar amount on the absolute human tragedy that occurred after the storm passed. The poverty, the desperation, the lack of empathy from the President and the funds that he indirectly held back from the victims, it all needs to be made up for.
Three quadrillion is merely a high number that is to be bargained down, but if the cases are determined by the conservative courts that the President has helped shape, the victims shouldn't expect much.
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