In the first lawsuit to go to trial since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, a federal court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to properly operate and maintain a 76-mile shipping channel dredged in 1965 to connect New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. The court didn't consider the canal's design, which former consultants testified increased the severity of flooding by removing natural barriers to high waters. Instead, it found the Corps negligent for not remediating the design once the agency learned of potential weaknesses.
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