Dislocation and Return of New Orleans Residents After Hurricane Katrina

On August 29, 2005, the city of New Orleans suffered colossal damage from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, resulting in a mass exodus of the population by the end of the first week of September. New Orleans’ underprivileged residents felt the social and economic repercussions of the hurricane most acutely. Disadvantages are likely to affect the geographic dispersion of the population and the likelihood of return. Where did displaced New Orleans residents reside in the year following the hurricane? Demographer Narayan Sastry will address this question in a statistical study of the displacement and the resettlement of the New Orleans population. Sastry will begin by using data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) between 2004 and 2006 to construct a sample of households residing in New Orleans before Katrina and a sample of households that relocated after the hurricane. Migration patterns will establish the basis for a subsequent exploration of how social networks and other factors influence relocation choices.