{
  "id": "RL33141",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33141",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 310307,
      "date": "2005-11-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:28:30.377029",
      "title": "Hurricane Katrina: Social-Demographic Characteristics of Impacted Areas",
      "summary": "On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast between\nthe major cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, to the west, and Mobile, Alabama, to the east. Along\nthe Gulf Coast and inland in the swath of the storm, Hurricane Katrina impacted hundreds of\nthousands of families in three states (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) and contributed to the\ndeaths of more than 1,000 people. While CRS estimates that 5.8 million people in three states may\nhave experienced hurricane-force winds, the majority rode out the storm safely. Property damage,\nloss of life, and sizeable displacement of the population appear to have been largely concentrated\nalong the Gulf Coast within a 100-mile radius of where the storm made landfall. Within this area,\ndamage due to high winds and storm surge resulted in significant devastation, but flooding, largely\nresulting from breached levees and flood walls, affected the greatest number of people, with much\nof New Orleans flooded.\n CRS estimates that 700,000 or more people may have been acutely impacted by Hurricane\nKatrina, as a result of residing in areas that flooded or sustained significant structural damage. This\nestimate is based on geographical analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)\nflood and damage assessments and year 2000 Census data. The estimates in this report are subject\nto the methods and assumptions used. Other agencies and organizations are conducting assessments\nusing alternative and complementary methodologies; estimates may differ depending upon the\nspecific methodologies used. In the case of this analysis, the estimates reflect the numbers and\ncharacteristics of people, families, and households in 2000, who lived in areas that suffered damage\nor flooding from the hurricane in 2005.\n The analysis shows that the Louisiana parishes of Orleans and St. Bernard were especially hard\nhit by flooding, with an estimated 77% of Orleans's population affected, and nearly all residents of\nSt. Bernard. In Mississippi, 55% of Hancock County's population is estimated to have been affected\nby flooding and/or structural damage, and in the more populous Harrison County, about 19% of its\npopulation. In Louisiana, an estimated 645,000 people may have been displaced by the hurricane\n(based on 2000 Census data), and in Mississippi, 66,000. \n Hurricane Katrina had varying impacts on the population. CRS estimates that of the people\nmost likely to have been displaced by the hurricane, about half lived in New Orleans. Due to the\ncity's social and economic composition, the storm impacted heavily on the poor and African\nAmericans. CRS estimates that one-fifth of those displaced by the storm were likely to have been\npoor, and 30% had incomes that were below 1\u00bd times the poverty line. African Americans\nare\nestimated to have accounted for approximately 44% of the storm victims. An estimated 88,000\nelderly persons (age 65 and older), many with strong community ties, may have been displaced,\nalong with 183,000 children, many of whom were just starting the school year when the storm struck. \nKatrina's impact on individuals, families, and communities will be felt for years to come, and will\ntake time to fully comprehend.\n This report will not be updated.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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