NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal jury ruled against AllstateCorp. (ALL.N: Quote, Profile , Research) in a "wind versus water" case that awarded a NewOrleans area man more than $2.8 million for damage to his homefrom 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

"Allstate is shocked with the jury's verdict in favor ofthe plaintiff and believes it acted in good faith," said MikeSiemienas, a spokesman for Allstate, the largest publicly-traded home insurer in the United States.

The decision in U.S. District Court in Louisiana comes at atime when cases in another state, Mississippi, appear to bewinding down, and settlements are being negotiated there by thestate insurance commissioner. A class action settlement inMississippi fell apart when the judge there was dissatisfiedwith the terms.

In the Weiss case the insured claimed the winds from theAugust 2005 hurricane blew his house down. Winds are covered byprivate insurers, while storm surge is covered by federal floodinsurance.

Allstate lawyer Judy Barrasso said there was plenty ofevidence to show the winds were not strong enough to topple thehouse, while the storm surge was.

Weiss claimed Allstate owed him nearly $600,000, but theNorthbrook, Illinois insurer said he had already received$350,000 from federal flood insurance and more than $40,000from the insurer for damage and living expenses.

Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive storm in U.S.history, cost insurers more than $38 billion in damages, mostlyin Mississippi and Louisiana. Two other storms, Rita and Wilma,brought the damage total for the nation to nearly $70 billion.

This is cache, read story here