Posted on 03/07/2005 7:00:52 AM PST by The_Victor
VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. and Austrian lawyers have filed a lawsuit demanding Thailand, U.S. forecasters and the French Accor group answer accusations they failed in a duty to warn populations hit by December's Tsunami disaster, a lawyer said Monday.
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The lawsuit was filed Friday at a New York district court on behalf of tsunami victims by lawyers including U.S. attorney Edward Fagan, internationally renowned for 1990s lawsuits against Swiss banks over Holocaust-era accounts. It demanded an account of their actions on Dec. 26.
"We expect a hearing within 30 days," Austrian lawyer Gerhard Podovsovnik told Reuters.
"We don't earn any money on the lawsuit. We want to help people," he said. "We are suing to get information."
The disaster left about 300,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Maldives, Bangladesh and East Africa. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes.
The text of the lawsuit is available on the Web site www.tsunamivictimsgroup.com.
The U.S. and Austrian lawyers filed the lawsuit on behalf of around 60 named plaintiffs from Austria, Germany, France, Netherlands and elsewhere. Podovsovnik said they were also acting on behalf of at least 40 more not named.
The lawsuit suggests the Thai government and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which operates a Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, failed to issue the requisite warnings.
SLOW WARNINGS
"Respondent NOAA did not notify all involved countries which lay in the tsunami's path. From public information it appears that ... NOAA failed to issue an alert that would notify countries where the tsunami hit that the deadly wave was coming," the lawsuit said.
"Published reports emerged that upon receipt of the NOAA alert and other data, the seismological and oceanographic experts of Thailand spent more than one hour talking about what the risk may or may not have been, instead of immediately issuing a warning to their population," it said.
It also accused Thailand of failing to notify Sri Lanka that a tsunami wave was headed its way.
Among the charges leveled against Accor, the owner of the Sofitel hotel chain, was failure to equip its luxury resort and spa in Khao Lak, Thailand with state-of-the-art seismic detection and warning systems, despite its location "in an earthquake and tsunami fault zone."
Last month, Accor issued a statement denying media reports of possible negligence in connection with the tsunami disaster. "The allegations concerning Accor are completely unfounded," Accor said on its Web Site.
Bravo Sierra
Good point. They're not going to "earn any money on the lawsuit"? They just want to "help people"??
To bad the tsunami didn't strictly target the lawyers of the world. I guess then it would have been cause for celebration, not mourning.
The Most Ridiculous Item of The Day?????
Your typical hotel in Thailand, even the VERY best ones, do not even trouble to keep the fire exits operating. Some bar the exits so hotel guests won't skip out on the bill, and most will use the fire exits for storage. And this guy expects state of the art seismic equipment? If you want first world service, STAY HOME!
And if NOAA had warned them of the tsunami and it never materialized, the ambulance chasers would have sued for the resulting loss in tourism dollars from the disruption of business.
The Tsunami warning system run by the NOAA is meant to protect the U.S. territory in and on the pacific and the U.S. alone.
They have no obligations, legal or otherwise, to warn anyone but us.
Here's the mission statement from their website. It seems to corroborate what you've said. Their information can be used to protect the global community, but it does not appear to be an obligatory function:
"The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community."
I understand that some of affected countries opted out of any treaties regarding tsunami warnings as regards to NOAA and the US....and I understand some attempts were made to warn the countries affected but the lack of a first warning system made that impossible!
Should this issue reach the US Supreme Court, there is no doubt that Justice Kennedy will support it because of an emerging international consensus that such suits are valid.
Scum sucking lawyers are everywhere. If we had not helped these people they would have sued us for that. Lawyers are just like the guvmint. They are only there to hep you.
To make matters worse all of those worthless POS countries were warned years ago to develop their own tsunami warning system and they decided not to bother.
I believe our government had even offered to supply some of the funds neccessary.
I believe that the tsunami warning system was for the Pacific. In a special about the tsunami on Discovery, it said the office in Hawaii tried to contact the affected countries, but because they were not part of the early warning system they didn't have appropriated contact numbers. The center made their best effort besides it is an act of God.
If I'm not mistaken the NOAA tsunami early warning system is for the Pacific Ocean. This tragedy occured in the Indian Ocean.
The 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act sent $918 million to South Asia and $298 million to East Asia. The 18 countries countries that were the recipents of this largesse include Thailand, Sri Lanka and East Timor. This money was allocated under the umberella of the war on terror, but much was earmarked for disaster relief. These governments were offered a link to NOAA, but they passed.
He should get his answer about 3 seconds after that ... "get the hell out of my courtroom."
It'll never happen, but one can dream ...
Oh, but this is how the lawyers worship their god, the $.
Notice how they filed the lawsuit in NYC, not Bangkok ...
F H
Quite literally, it is the UN who ought to be sued. Check it out:
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/itic/
The International Tsunami Information Center was established in 1965 by the IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). ITIC maintains and develops relationships with scientific research and academic organizations, civil defense agencies, and the general public in order to carry out its mission to mitigate the hazards associated with tsunamis by improving tsunami preparedness for all Pacific Ocean nations.
ITIC:
* Monitors international tsunami warning activities in the Pacific.
* Assists Member States in establishing national warning systems, and makes information available on current technologies for tsunami warning systems.
* Maintains a library of materials to promulgate knowledge about tsunamis in general and for use by the scientific community.
* Disseminates information including educational materials and research reports.
* Publishes a newsletter for all parties interested in the activities of ITIC and other organizations involved in tsunami warning or tsunami hazard reduction.
| Victims of Tsunami Suing US for not warning ^ |
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| Posted by JewishRighter On News/Activism ^ 03/07/2005 12:31:57 PM EST · 21 replies · 122+ views Reuters ^ | 3/7/05 | Reuters Victims Sue Thailand, U.S., Accor Over Tsunami Mon Mar 7, 9:20 AM ET World - Reuters VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. and Austrian lawyers have filed a lawsuit demanding Thailand, U.S. forecasters and the French Accor group answer accusations they failed in a duty to warn populations hit by December's Tsunami disaster, a lawyer said Monday. The lawsuit was filed Friday at a New York district court on behalf of tsunami victims by lawyers including U.S. attorney Edward Fagan, internationally renowned for 1990s lawsuits against Swiss banks over Holocaust-era accounts. It demanded an account of their actions on Dec. 26. "We... |
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| Victims Sue Thailand, U.S., Accor Over Tsunami ^ |
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| Posted by The_Victor On News/Activism ^ 03/07/2005 10:00:52 AM EST · 17 replies · 616+ views Yahoo (Reuters) ^ | March 7, 2005 VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. and Austrian lawyers have filed a lawsuit demanding Thailand, U.S. forecasters and the French Accor group answer accusations they failed in a duty to warn populations hit by December's Tsunami disaster, a lawyer said Monday. The lawsuit was filed Friday at a New York district court on behalf of tsunami victims by lawyers including U.S. attorney Edward Fagan, internationally renowned for 1990s lawsuits against Swiss banks over Holocaust-era accounts. It demanded an account of their actions on Dec. 26. "We expect a hearing within 30 days," Austrian lawyer Gerhard Podovsovnik told Reuters. "We don't... |
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| Tsunami suit filed against forecasters ^ |
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| Posted by malboro_man On News/Activism ^ 03/06/2005 11:57:03 AM EST · 31 replies · 474+ views World Net Daily ^ | March 6, 2005 | WND The December 26 tsunami that took over 275,000 lives may have been an act of God, but more than 60 European survivors of the deadly wave have filed suit in New York district court to determine if Thai authorities, U.S. forecasters and a French hotel chain were negligent. U.S. attorney Edward Fagan, who has successfully fought against Swiss banks on behalf of Holocaust victims, is joined by two other attorneys representing plaintiffs from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France, reported Agence France-Presse. Named in the suit are the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Hawaii-based Tsunami... |
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| Tsunami victims file lawsuit ^ |
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| Posted by kennedy On News/Activism ^ 03/05/2005 9:18:51 PM EST · 58 replies · 1,182+ views News.com.au ^ | May 5, 2005 | Staff SEVERAL dozen European victims of Asia's tsunami disaster have filed a lawsuit demanding that Thai authorities, US forecasters, and a French hotel chain prove that they reacted adequately. In what is believed to be the first tsunami claim worldwide, US lawyer Edward Fagan and two other lawyers have filed the suit with a New York district court on behalf of more than 60 plaintiffs from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The suit was filed against the Thai government, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Tsunami Warning Centre, and the French hotel group Sofitel, said... |
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