One year later: Katrina by the numbers

From The Independent Weekly:

The most comprehensive study of the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year is the 96-page report One Year After Katrina: The State of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast produced by the Institute for Southern Studies in Durham through its Reconstruction Watch project. More than 20 reporters, writers, activists and editors looked at issues including the diaspora of residents, housing, infrastructure, the economy, federal contracting, education, the environment and current hurricane readiness. Its conclusion, as stated in the report's introduction: "One year later, New Orleans and the Gulf region still face basic, fundamental barriers to renewal. Further, lack of federal leadership and misplaced priorities are preventing the region from achieving a vibrant future."

What follows are excerpts from the report's Katrina One-Year Index. To read the entire report, go to www.reconstructionwatch.org/images/One_Year_After.pdf.

Number of persons Hurricane Katrina displaced from Louisiana: between 645,000 and 1.1 million

Number of persons displaced from Mississippi: from 66,000 to several hundred thousand

Average distance traveled by evacuees from Chalmette, a largely white community in St. Bernard Parish: 193 miles

Average distance traveled by evacuees from the Lower Ninth Ward, a largely African-American community in New Orleans: 349 miles

Estimated percentage of New Orleans metro area's pre-storm population of about 460,000 that had returned as of June 30, 2006: 37

Percentage of Louisiana mortgages past due as of July 2006: 20

National average for percentage of past-due mortgages: 4

Number of New Orleans prisoners whose trials have never been set or have been delayed, or who have never seen an attorney: about 6,000

Average time people sat in a New Orleans jail before seeing an attorney: more than 1 year

Percentage of New Orleans schools damaged by Katrina: 83

Months after Katrina that federal money for housing was approved: 10

Total federal funds dispersed so far to rebuild homes: $0

Annual profits that Entergy Corp., whose subsidiaries provide electricity to most of the Gulf region, reported earning before Katrina: $909 million

Amount Entergy's New Orleans subsidiary requested in federal relief after declaring bankruptcy following the storm: $718 million

Rate increase proposed by Entergy New Orleans to fund repairs after its request for federal funding was denied: 25 percent

Occupancy rate of livable apartments in New Orleans: 99

Percentage of New Orleans small businesses destroyed by Katrina: 60

Out of 28,540 disaster loan applications submitted to Small Business Administration from the Gulf Coast, number processed by December 2005: 10

By May 2006, percentage of small businesses that had been approved for disaster loans from the Small Business Administration that had actually received them: 37