(The Center Square) – Before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the coast, the New Orleans population was about 460,000. Twenty years later, the city has dropped to about 380,000 as it continues to rebuild.
Katrina still ranks as one of the deadliest and costliest storms to hit the United States in history. With more than 1 million displaced and 1,833 deaths, the population in New Orleans was severely impacted by the natural disaster.
“The city suffered moderate damage from the hurricane itself, but enormous damage from extensive flooding caused by breaks in several levees,” said Narayan Sastry within a pilot study of displaced New Orleans residents after Katrina. “The population of New Orleans was reduced to fewer than several thousand people by the end of the first week of September 2005.”…