In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers’ mismanagement of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was directly responsible for flood damage of homes in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Plaintiff attorneys Joe Bruno and Pierce O’Donnell said they expect to travel to Washington, D.C., as early as next week to try to convince members of the administration of President Barack Obama and members of Congress to consider revisiting requests for compensation by New Orleans-area residents in both the areas covered by the decision and in other areas flooded by corps-related failures of levees.