(The following story by Gregory Richards appeared on The Virginian-Pilot website on September 21.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $18 million from two insurers, saying the companies failed to fully compensate the railroad for damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The defendants are identified as Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC, and certain underwriters belonging to the Lloyd’s insurance marketplace in London.
The insurers have partly compensated the Norfolk-based railroad for roughly $65 million in damages from Katrina but have yet to pay more than $17 million for damage to the railroad’s 5.8-mile -long Lake Pontchartrain Bridge, the suit states. The bridge connects its rail network to New Orleans.
Norfolk Southern, the fourth-largest U.S. railroad, maintains in the suit that bridge damage is covered by the policies.
The company filed the lawsuit Aug. 29 in Norfolk Circuit Court. However, it asked that the defendants not be served with the lawsuit at that time, according to court records.
A railroad spokesman could not elaborate on the suit Thursday. Great Lakes could not be reached for comment because it was after hours at its London headquarters, and the Lloyd’s underwriters could not be fully identified from the lawsuit.