Learn more

About Post-Katrina New Orleans

It's been nearly five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, yet there are 971 families still living in temporary FEMA trailers.

That's not all — read more facts about New Orleans today, compared to five years ago:

  1. Today, New Orleans has only 89 percent of its pre-Katrina population. 1
  2. Only 70 percent of the jobs based in New Orleans pre-Katrina exist in the present day. 2
  3. The New Orleans area has returned to only 79 percent of its pre-Katrina commercial activity. 3
  4. The cost of rental property in New Orleans has increased by 49 percent, while over 65,000 residential units remain vacant. 4
  5. About 35,000 children attend 85 schools in New Orleans in 2010. Before Katrina, about 63,000 students attended 128 schools. 5
  6. Before Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans area had 17 hospitals with emergency rooms. Today it has 11. 6
  7. As of May 2009, public transportation usage is at only 43 percent of pre-Katrina levels. 7
  8. General cargo handled at the Port of New Orleans was down 19 percent in 2008. 8
  9. Tax credits and other programs have helped rebuild nearly 70,000 housing units, yet 2,000 families remain in temporary housing. 9
  10. 6,000 people are camping in more than 65,000 abandoned buildings in New Orleans. 10

Enough is enough. Sign the pledge

Sources:

  1. Times-Picayune, 3.25.10
  2. Ibid.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Miami Herald, 2.20.10"
  6. Ibid.
  7. "The New Orleans Index," Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings/Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, 08.09
  8. Ibid.
  9. Associated Press, 12.31.09
  10. Times-Picayune, 1.16.10