A Statistical Look at Katrina Aftermath
.c The Associated Press
A look at key numbers reflecting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
DEATH TOLL:
Deaths reported by state and local officials as of Saturday:
Alabama: 2
Florida: 14
Georgia: 2
Louisiana: 154
Mississippi: 211
Total: 383
FEDERAL AID:
Congress has approved $62.3 billion for relief and recovery, with
billions more expected to be needed in months and years to
come. Federal government is spending more than a $1 billion a day on
relief effort.
NATIONAL GUARD:
National Guard has deployed 50,000 troops: Louisiana has more than
30,000; Mississippi more than 15,000; and Alabama about 800. About
17,000 active-duty troops also have been sent to the area.
AFFECTED AREA:
90,000 square miles.
POPULATION AFFECTED:
Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates nearly 293,000 homes
damaged or destroyed.
More than 1 million people left their homes, and 163,000 residents of
Louisiana are in shelters, FEMA estimates.
Baton Rouge became Louisiana’s largest city nearly overnight as more
than 100,000 rescue workers and evacuees joined pre-storm population
of 412,000. Mayor’s office said population is likely to reach 800,000
and possibly 1 million.
CENSUS BUREAU STATISTICS:
Estimated 9.7 million residents of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi
experienced hurricane-force wind. About 2.1 million people in those
three states lived below the poverty level. About 4.9 million people,
or about 41 percent of the population, lived in coastal areas.
UTILITIES:
As of Saturday, more than 427,000 Louisiana customers still had no
power, said state emergency officials. More than 2,600 had no power in
Mississippi, said the utility Entergy.
Estimated 24,000 Louisiana customers lacked natural gas service and
about 500,000 had no phone service.
ECONOMIC LOSSES:
Paul Getman, chief executive officer of Economy.com, estimates
economic losses at $175 billion, including damage to homes, businesses
and infrastructure, as well as disrupted economic activity and larger
energy bills.
Economy.com estimates that consumer prices in the second half of the
year will increase by 3.2 percent on an annualized basis. That’s up
from a pre-hurricane estimate of a 2.5 percent increase.
INSURANCE:
Katrina could cost the insurance industry up to $60 billion in claims,
a leading risk assessment firm, Risk Management Solutions of Newark,
Calif., said Friday. Estimates by other risk modeling firms range from
$17 billion to $25 billion. In today’s dollars, Hurricane Andrew in
1992 caused nearly $21 billion in insured losses.
EDUCATION:
Estimated 170,000 public school students displaced in Louisiana and
Mississippi. In coastal areas, about 75 percent of schools sustained
significant damage.
American Council on Education estimates that 75,000 to 100,000 college
students in the New Orleans area were affected by the storm.
PHILANTHROPY:
Charitable giving to hurricane victims has reached nearly $700
million, charities reported.
RED CROSS:
Estimates it will need about $1 billion for initial relief efforts in
affected areas. As of Friday, it had received $503 million in gifts
and pledges. By comparison, a week after tsunami devastated parts of
South Asia last December, the Red Cross had raised $79.2 million. In
the two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Americans
donated $534 million to the organization.
Has 39,000 relief workers in place, has served more than 6 million hot
meals and 5.9 million snacks, and has operated 675 shelters, housing
more than 160,000 people in 23 states.
Has distributed more than $5 million in benefits to refugees at the
Houston Astrodome, handing out more than 1,400 debit cards an hour
that are worth up to $2,000 per household. FEMA also started giving
out debit cards at shelters in Texas, but decided Friday to switch to
bank accounts.
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE:
FEMA has offered up to $2,000 per household at a cost of $640
million. More than 347,800 families have registered to receive the
money.
More than 20,000 evacuees have applied for some form of public
benefits in the metro Atlanta area alone in the past week.
OIL AND ENERGY:
Facilities in Gulf region account for 1.5 million barrels a day, or 29
percent of domestic oil production.
Natural gas prices could increase as much as 71 percent in parts of
the United States this fall, raising the prospect of higher home
heating costs this winter, according to the Energy Department.
Domestic oil production should return to just under 5.4 million
barrels a day in November, the level before Katrina, the Energy
Department said.
NEW ORLEANS FLOODING:
About 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded. The city, home to about
484,000 people, sits 6 feet below sea level on average.
Corps of Engineers said as of noon Friday the city was slowly being
drained by 32 of the usual 148 pumps, plus 38 portable pumps, pushing
nearly 12,000 cubic feet of water per second, roughly equal to more
than 430 Olympic-size swimming pools per hour.
Most of New Orleans could be drained by Oct. 2, the eastern area and
suburban Chalmette should be above water by Oct. 8, and it will
probably take another 10 days to drain Plaquemines Parish, the Corps
of Engineers said Friday.
AGRICULTURE:
Direct agricultural losses are estimated at $1 billion, according to
Terry Francl, senior economist for the American Farm Bureau
Federation. He says full extent of damage may not be known for weeks,
and agriculture could suffer another $1 billion in losses because of
higher fuel prices and supply disruptions.
JOBS:
Labor Department reports that roughly 10,000 workers filed for
unemployment benefits last week after losing their jobs as a result of
Katrina. Analysts said that number would have been higher except the
storm closed claims offices and prevented more of the newly jobless
from completing their paperwork.
Congressional Budget Office assessment predicts employment for
September will decline significantly, with job losses estimated from
150,000 to as much as 500,000. The report also forecasts 400,000 jobs
will be lost in coming months as a result of the hurricane.
HISTORIC FIRSTS:
For the first time in 159 years, Mexican Army troops arrived on
U.S. soil, part of a plan to spend up to a month in San Antonio, home
of the Alamo, to help evacuees. It is Mexico’s first disaster mission
to the United States, and the first Mexican military unit to operate
on U.S. soil since 1846.
United States asked NATO to help transport European aid to areas hit
by Katrina. It would be the first time the NATO Response Force has
been used for a humanitarian mission.
United States accepted a United Nations offer of help. It is the first
time since UNICEF was founded in 1946 that the U.N. has been asked to
assist with an emergency in the United States.
Compiled by the Associated Press News Research Center and AP Graphics.
09/10/05 13:50 EDT