Katrina: Demographics of a Disaster

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In the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast, tens of thousands of New Orleanians are being evacuated to cities across the country. Many host cities have dramatically different demographics and the levels of social services provided differ greatly.

Here is a look at race, poverty and federal food stamp data for the United States, New Orleans, and select cities receiving evacuees.

Population: poverty and race

Table 1 shows the racial composition and poverty rates of New Orleans and selected cities receiving large numbers of evacuees. The last three cities listed, included for comparison purposes, have roughly the same population as New Orleans.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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