Jury finds all home damage was caused by Katrina winds, case settles

A federal jury in Mississippi found on Friday that Katrina damage to the home of a Bay St. Louis couple was entirely caused by wind that destroyed the home before hurricane storm surge arrived. The insurer in this case was USAA, which said the damage was caused primarily by storm flooding and which had paid the couple, Kevin and Sherrye Webster, about $11,000 for wind damage plus about $42,000 for their barn. The jury's decision apparently was only on what caused the damage to the house, and the case settled after the jury went home for the weekend. According to one of the lawyers for the Websters, they will collect at least $800,000 from USAA. Here's a story on the case by Mike Kunzelman of the Association Press.