As an estimated 1,000 lawsuits related to the 2016 flood continue to wend their way through federal court in Baton Rouge, CBS Evening News will tonight air an investigative report focusing on the plight of a Baton Rouge couple who, more than 18 months after the historic flood, have yet to complete rebuilding their home and are fighting the National Flood Insurance Program for more than $100,000 they say they are owed.
The two-part report, which concludes Tuesday, will detail how Richard and Linda Brown filed suit against the NFIP after receiving just $62,000 on a $168,000 policy to repair their house, which was totally destroyed by the flood. The story goes on to explore how FEMA, which runs the NFIP, actually outsources most of the administration of the program to private insurance companies, which get paid from the same pot of money as flood victims. Some years, up to two-thirds of NFIP funding have gone to private insurance companies and the attorneys they hire to fight flood victims’ claims, the report will show.
New Orleans attorney John Houghtaling II, who successfully represented hundreds of flood victims in Superstorm Sandy, is handling the Brown’s case and says it’s one of more than 100 he has filed locally in the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana.
“I have seen systematic underpayments with bogus engineering reports, where they are producing completely baseless reports to deny or under-pay claims, and they are recommending repair methods that would violate codes in Louisiana,” he says. “There is a variety of tactics they are using.”
Houghtaling has compiled a spreadsheet that shows policyholders whose homes had between six and 10 feet of contaminated water only received an average of $45 per square foot to rebuild,
“I have one client whose house had 10 feet of flood water and they only got $25 per square foot,” he says.
Tonight’s CBS report also features a second New Orleans-based lawyer, Gerald Nielsen, who represents the insurance company fighting the Browns. Nielsen, like Houghtailing, has been at the center of flood litigation for years, though on the other side.
CBS says Nielsen declined its request for an interview.
Where the flood litigation is heading remains to be seen. Houghtaling says there will not be a class action suit, but he suggests there could be criminal fraud charges. He says he is currently cooperating with investigators, but declines to be specific.
The CBS Evening News airs locally at 5:30 on WAFB.
