| Summary/abstract: | - On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast between the major cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, to the west, and Mobile, Alabama, to the east. Along the Gulf Coast and inland in the swath of the storm, Hurricane Katrina hundreds of thousands of families in three states (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) and contributed to the deaths of more than 1,000 people. While CRS estimates that 5.8 million people in three states may have experienced hurricane-force winds, the majority rode out the storm safely. Property damage, loss of life, and sizeable displacement of the population appear to have been largely concentrated along the Gulf Coast within a 100-mile radius of where the storm made landfall. Within this area, damage due to high winds and storm surge resulted in significant devastation, but flooding, largely resulting from breached levees and flood walls, affected the greatest number of people, with much of New Orleans flooded.
CRS estimates that 700,000 or more people may have been acutely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, as a result of residing in areas that flooded or sustained significant structural damage. This estimate is based on geographical analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood and damage assessment and year 2000 Census data. The estimates in this report are subject to the methods and assumptions used. Other agencies and organizations are conducting assessments using alternative and complementary methodologies; estimates may differ depending upon the specific methodologies used. In the case of this analysis, the estimates reflect the numbers and characteristics of people, families, and households in 2000, who lived in areas that suffered damage or flooding from the hurricane in 2005. The analysis shows that the Louisiana parishes of Orleans and St. Bernard were especially hard hit by flooding, with an estimated 77% of Orleans' population affected, and nearly all residents
of St. Bernard. In Mississippi, 55% of Hancock County's population is estimated to have been affected by flooding and/or structural damage, and in the more populous Harrison County, about 19% of its population. In Louisiana, an estimated 645,000 people may have been displaced by the hurricane (based on 2000 Census data), and in Mississippi, 66,000. Hurricane Katrina had varying impacts on the population. CRS estimates that of the people most likely to have been displaced by the hurricane, about half lived in New Orleans. Due to the city's social and economic composition, the storm impacted heavily on the poor and African Americans. CRS estimated that one-fifth of those displaced by the storm were likely to have been poor, and 30% had incomes that were below 1½ times the poverty line. African Americans are estimated to have accounted for approximately 44% of the storm victims. An estimated 88,000 elderly persons (age 65 and older), many with strong community ties, may have been
displaced, along with 183,000 children, many of whom were just starting the school year when the storm struck. Katrina's impact on individuals, families, and communities will be felt for years to come, and will take time to fully comprehend. This report will not be updated.
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