Fundamental Facts
Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding, particularly in New Orleans, Louisiana, made Katrina one of the deadliest and most costly hurricane disasters in US history. More people died in Hurricane Katrina than in any other hurricane since 1928 when 2,500 people died in the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in Florida. At a cost of 100-120 billion dollars, it was at least four times as destructive as Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the next costliest storm. The statistical profile of Katrina is subject to interpretation and analysis. Most of the available figures are estimates, and some vary considerably — for example, estimates on the number of people who have died as a result of the hurricane. To make sense of the numbers that follow, it is important to look at the dates they were reported and the population/ area upon which they are based – the Gulf Coast, Louisiana, or New Orleans.
| 1,274 |
Katrina deaths |
| 1,833+ |
Katrina deaths |
| 200 |
Number of bodies unclaimed or unidentified |
| 567 |
Katrina missing |
| 750,000 |
Number of Gulf Coast families forced to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina |
| 1,000,000+ |
Number of Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina |
| 627,525 |
Population New Orleans at its Peak, 1960 |
| 444,000 |
Pre-storm population of New Orleans |
| 191,000 |
Population of New Orleans one year later (11/06) |
|
37% |
Pre-Katrina, percentage of New Orleans population identified as Black (8/05) |
|
22% |
Post-Katrina, percentage of New Orleans population identified as Black (12/05) |
| 59% |
Pre-Katrina, percentage of New Orleans population identified as White (8/05) |
| 73% |
Pre-Katrina, percentage of New Orleans population identified as White (12/05) |
| 66,372 |
Number of students attending Orleans Parish public schools, 10/04 |
| 26,165 |
Number of students attending Orleans Parish public schools, 2/07 |
| 4.8% |
Current unemployment rate, Louisiana (5/07) |
| 5.6% |
Pre-Katrina unemployment rate, Louisiana (8/05) |
| 12.1% |
Immediately Post-Katrina unemployment rate, Louisiana (9/05) |
| $125 – $150 bil. |
Estimated economic loss related to Hurricane Katrina |
| $10 bil. |
Estimated cost of repairing the levees (3/06) |
| 90,000 sq. mi. |
Land area covered by Federal Gulf Coast Disaster Declarations |
| 80% |
Percentage of the city of New Orleans under water on August 31, 2005 |
| 35 mil. |
Cubic yards of debris left in New Orleans (=10 Superdomes) |
| 76,151 |
Highest number of travel trailers and mobile homes serving as temporary homes in Louisiana for Katrina evacuees (7/06) |
| 55,698 |
Number of travel trailers and mobile homes serving as temporary homes in Louisiana for Katrina evacuees (4/07) |
