(Thumbnail image from Flickr user Infrogmation)

“In a landmark decision, a district court judge in New Orleans has ruled that the Army Corp of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding during Hurricane Katrina.” (The Rachel Maddow Show)

This is the first time the government has been held liable for the Katrina floods. The navigational channel, called the Mississippi Gulf Outlet – or Mr. GO – is maintained by the federal government and is said to have caused about 80 percent of the Hurricane Katrina flooding. This ruling states this channel was not properly maintained.

The media are talking about its larger vindication for the city of New Orleans and its ramifications for the federal government.

We look at perspectives from WWLTV Louisiana, CNN, Fox News, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune, and WDSU New Orleans.

We begin with the CBS affiliate in Louisiana. The station brings in a view of accountability from the plaintiff’s consultant at the Louisiana State University.

“Well I think this is a huge win not only for the plaintiffs but also for the people of New Orleans in that finally we’ve got some acknowledgement of the Corps of Engineers' fault in the failure of the levy system.”

An article on CNN.com highlights statement from the attorneys, in regards to a shift in government responsibility.

"The government has always had a moral obligation to rebuild New Orleans. This decision makes that obligation a matter of legal responsibility."

FOX News highlights the financial ramifications of the ruling, saying it will set a precedent for other lawsuits against the federal government.

“That ruling can open the way for thousands of other lawsuits and millions if not billions of taxpayer dollars”

“The government argued look, we’ve maintained this thing all along.  Katrina was so bad that it just overwhelmed a very good system that was in place.  the judge said, and I quote, 'Talk is cheap, this suit wont be.'”

A reporter from The Times-Picayune points out the part where the ruling fell short.

“[The ruling] did not affect the levee system that protects eastern New Orleans from hurricane storm surge…[and] eastern New Orleans residents would not be able to collect on claims they've filed against the corps.”

Finally, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans speaks with President of St. Bernard Parish Craig Taffero about what the ruling means for his community in the future.

“Most importantly, what it does for us, though, as a municipality, is it keeps us at the table in terms of negotiating what type of protection and restoration efforts the federal government will be responsible for.”

So what do you think this ruling will do for the 9th Ward? For the residents of the city of New Orleans as a whole?

Writer: Katlin Chadwick

Producer: Nathan Giannini