Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it would not hear an appeal, led by Xavier University of Louisiana, to allow lawsuits against insurance companies by people and institutions that suffered property losses in Hurricane Katrina nearly three years ago.

Last August a federal appeals court ruled that Xavier and dozens of homeowners and corporations were not entitled to sue insurance companies for repairs if their insurance policies excluded flood coverage.

Xavier had argued that since the flooding of its buildings in New Orleans was caused by human error in the form of a defective levee, and not a natural disaster, the damages should be covered by the university’s “all risk” insurance policy. A federal judge in Louisiana agreed with that line of reasoning in late 2006 and ruled that insurance companies must pay for damages caused by canal breaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

However, that decision was unanimously overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which held in part that a flood is not limited to natural events. Since the Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal, that decision will now stand. —JJ Hermes