Leonard v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance

EDITH H. JONES, Chief Judge:

This homeowner’s policy coverage dispute arose from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We affirm the judgment of the district court, but to do so we must work through some erroneous reasoning that led to its conclusion.

I. Background

The Leonards’ home lies twelve feet above sea level on the southmost edge of Pascagoula, Mississippi, less than two hundred yards from the Mississippi Sound. Hurricane Katrina battered Pascagoula with torrential rain and sustained winds in excess of one hundred miles per hour. By midday, the…