KPtoys
I'm getting old
Member since 5/05 8688 total posts
Name:
Karen
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Anyone got $3 quadrillion they don't know what to do with.
That is one large amount!!
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina's victims have put a price tag on their suffering and it is staggering _ including one plaintiff seeking the unlikely sum of $3 quadrillion.
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.
For the sake of perspective: A mere $1 quadrillion would dwarf the U.S. gross domestic product, which Scott said was $13.2 trillion in 2007. A stack of one quadrillion pennies would reach Saturn.
Some residents may have grossly exaggerated their claims to send a message to the corps, which has accepted blame for poorly designing the failed levees.
"I understand the anger," Scott said. "I also understand it's a negotiating tactic: Aim high and negotiate down."
Daniel Becnel, Jr., a lawyer who said his clients have filed more than 60,000 claims, said measuring Katrina's devastation in dollars and cents is a nearly impossible task.
"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."
The corps released zip codes, but no names, for the 247 claims of at least $1 billion. The list includes a $77 billion claim by the city of New Orleans. Fourteen involve a wrongful death claim. Fifteen were filed by businesses, including several insurance companies.
Little is known about the person who claimed $3 quadrillion. It was filed in Baker, 93 miles northwest of New Orleans. Baker is far from the epicenter of Katrina's destruction, but the city has a trailer park where hundreds of evacuees have lived since the storm.
Katrina, which is blamed for more than 1,600 deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, is considered the most destructive storm to ever hit the U.S. It caused at least $60 billion in insured losses and could cost Gulf Coast states up to $125 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Most of the claims were filed before a deadline that coincided with Katrina's second anniversary, but the Corps is still receiving them _ about 100 claims have arrived over the past three weeks _ and is feeding them into a computer database.
The Corps said it isn't passing judgment on the merits of each claim. Federal courts are in charge of deciding if a claim is valid and how much compensation is warranted.
"It's important to the person who filed it, so we're taking every single claim seriously," Corps spokeswoman Amanda Jones said.
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: Anyone got $3 quadrillion they don't know what to do with.
100 billion dollars!
OK, I understand that people lost everything, and want to be compensated, but really now. 3 quadrillion? Why not a million billion trillion? I remember that "number" from when I was in grade school. You know you can't possibly get that, and even the idea of asking for that much I would think would guarantee that you won't get anything. It just looks like you're just making up stuff for no reason. If it was reasonable, you might get part of it, at least. 
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MarisaK
HELLO Manolo !!
Member since 5/06 14562 total posts
Name:
Marisa
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Re: Anyone got $3 quadrillion they don't know what to do with.
Things like this make me embarassed to be American ......... - This crap ONLY happens here -
And this .......
"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."
Is a presumptious over statement -
Message edited 1/10/2008 1:12:41 PM.
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SweetTooth
I'm a tired mommy!
Member since 12/05 20105 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: Anyone got $3 quadrillion they don't know what to do with.
Posted by MarisaK
And this .......
"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."
Is a presumptious over statement -
I agree. What happened there was terrible no doubt, but thats a ridiculous amount of money. Beyond ridiculous.
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That's a lot of $$! 
