Former LSU coastal expert settles Hurricane Katrina lawsuit - WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports

Former LSU coastal expert settles Hurricane Katrina lawsuit

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Ivor van Heerden Ivor van Heerden
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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -

Dr. Ivor van Heerden, the coastal researcher whose models predicted the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, will be paid $435,000 by LSU and a state agency, settling a three year old lawsuit.

On the phone Tuesday night, van Heerden told WAFB's Andre Moreau he felt "a huge sense of relief."

The one-time head of LSU's Hurricane Center publicly alleged in 2005 that a levee flaw by the Army Corps of Engineers caused New Orleans to flood during Katrina's assault.

From the voice of Katrina, to one LSU wanted kept quiet, van Heerden was eventually fired in 2010 from the university.  Tuesday night, he told Moreau that he and his wife can now get on with their lives.

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