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CIAO DATE: 10/5/2006
Special Edition of the Katrina Index: A One-Year Review of Key Indicators of Recovery in Post-Storm New Orleans
Amy Liu, Matt Fellowes, Mia Mabanta
August 2006
Abstract
New Orleans is moving beyond Katrina, but progress is uneven and at times tentative.
Now nearly a year since Katrina made landfall, key components of the city’s economy are growing, schools and hospitals continue to re-open, and festivals and tourists have come back. That this progress has happened is remarkable. The hurricane emptied out the city to population levels probably not seen since the French Mississippi Company founded the city nearly 300 years ago. It also flooded over 80 percent of the city’s land area, wiping out entire neighborhoods and countless businesses. The task of rebuilding is no doubt daunting.
Yet, New Orleans has rebounded unevenly, leaving entire neighborhoods mostly out of the recovery effort and many key pieces of the city’s infrastructure—from childcare centers to affordable housing to utility service—lagging. Job growth has been weak and workers appear more vulnerable than a year ago.
