Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing oral argument on the appeal of a Katrina-related coverage decision by U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr.,  issued in November 2006. 

Some of the most interesting developments over the past six months in the world of insurance coverage come out of Hurricane Katrina, the largest insured loss in U.S. history.  Several thousand lawsuits, filed in Mississippi and Louisiana, focused on the question of whether property damage arising from the hurricane was caused by wind or objects propelled by wind, both of which are covered under the standard property insurance policy, or by excluded water or flood.