"JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed claims of fraud in a key Hurricane Katrina lawsuit that accused State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. of using different engineering reports to deny a couple's insurance policy after the storm.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. applied to the federal lawsuit filed by Thomas and Pamela McIntosh, who sued State Farm after the insurer blamed most of the damages to their Biloxi home on Katrina's storm surge and paid the couple $36,228. The homeowners policy excluded coverage for flood damage.

"Judge Senter has confirmed what we have been saying all along — this is a basic wind/water dispute and plaintiffs cannot prove fraud," State Farm spokesman Jonathan Freed said Monday. "Shortly after the storm, State Farm paid the limit on the McIntoshes' flood policy and also paid in excess of $36,000 for wind damage." (source:By Holdbrook Mohr @ ap.google.com)