The deadline to file a lawsuit for Hurricane Ida damage is fast approaching in Louisiana. The deadline is August 29, 2023 – in two months.
If you are a policyholder, public adjuster representing a policyholder, or a contractor waiting for the policyholder to be paid by the insurance company for the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, the end is near. You must hire competent and reliable lawyers to help you.
I remember that so many people waited until the last minute to file after Hurricane Katrina that the lines to file lawsuits ran outside the courthouse in New Orleans. Although times have changed and internet filing makes this much less complicated, now is the time to get counsel and properly prepare your case for trial.
Louisiana judges have been very proactive and want cases to proceed to early mediation. Attorneys must file full disclosures shortly after these cases are filed. Our recent experience is that Louisiana courts move these cases relatively quickly. I noted the mediation program in Hurricane Ida Voluntary mediation program for housing claims.
Hurricane Ida was a devastating hurricane. A web article, Hurricanes in Louisiananoted the following regarding Hurricane Ida:
In 2021
, another deadly storm hit Louisiana, quickly becoming the second most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana, behind Hurricane Katrina. With winds of 150 mph at landfall, Ida tied Hurricane Laura and the 1856 Last Island Hurricane as the strongest to affect the state. With devastating floods and tornadoes, particularly to New Orleans and surrounding areas, occurring on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Ida was frighteningly familiar to the state. Unlike during Hurricane Katrina, however, New Orleans levees held up to the storm’s impact, but downed power lines left more than a million people without electricity in the eastern half of the state. The outage lasted weeks for many, and in some areas like Terrebonne Parish, it lasted months. As the fourth costliest hurricane to hit the United States, Ida caused $75.25 billion in damages and thirty deaths in the state. Tragically, due to the extended loss of power, many Louisianans turned to using generators, resulting in 141 hospitalizations and four deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Wikipedia noted the following about Hurricane Ida:
…Ida intensified to Category 2 strength at 00:00 UTC on August 29, and into a Category 4 hurricane six hours later, as it moved northwest toward the Louisiana coast. Around 12:00 UTC that day, Ida reached its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds of 150 mph… and a minimum central barometric pressure of 929 mbar (27.43 inHg), while located not far southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. During this intensification phase, maximum winds increased by 70 mph (110 km/h) and the central pressure dropped by 57 mbar (1.683 inHg). At its peak, the hurricane showed a pronounced satellite presentation, with an almost symmetrical structure and a well-defined eye with an impressive stadium effect visible. Intensification then ceased as the storm began an eyewall replacement cycle, forming a second, larger eyewall around the first, but Ida remained near its peak intensity. At 16:55 UTC, Ida made its third and final landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with sustained winds of 150 mph… and a central pressure of 931 mbar (27.49 inHg), tying the 1856 Last Island hurricane and Hurricane Laura as the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in Louisiana, as measured by maximum sustained winds, and second only to Hurricane Katrina, as measured by central pressure at landfall. A vessel at sea near the landing point verified this intensity, with reported wind gusts as high as 172 mph…
The strong wind speeds were devastating.
Merlin Law Group has three full-time Louisiana-based attorneys available to assist with Hurricane Ida litigation. So don’t wait any longer. If your insurance company has not paid you, now is the time to seek help and file a lawsuit before it is too late.
Today’s quote about hurricanes and disasters
Eastern and Gulf Coast states at risk for hurricanes; the prairies and other central and southern states are constantly threatened by tornadoes; and western states commonly face damaging droughts. Extreme weather does not discriminate American geography.
– Matt Cartwright
Source link
