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Louisiana starts levee failure probe

BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti has begun a state investigation into why levees failed during Hurricane Katrina, and civil lawsuits could result.

Foti told the New York Times if levee design or construction errors caused the massive flood damage to New Orleans, civil lawsuits could make it easier for those with heavy losses to collect damages from engineering firms and construction companies found negligent.

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Many homeowners were told their insurance companies would not compensate them for flood damage after the Aug. 29 storm, and Foti said his aim was to help clarify "what the law is -- and what the rights of consumers and homeowners are."

The Orleans Parish district attorney, Eddie Jordan, also has opened an inquiry.

Independent engineers have said pockets of weak soil and too-shallow steel anchors helped set off the failures in the flood walls, and huge earthen levees were washed away by storm surges.

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