Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts

Here’s a look at some statistics from Hurricane Katrina.

August 29, 2005

Katrina makes landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 3 storm with winds near 127 mph.
- Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Biloxi, Mississippi.
- Numerous failures of levees around New Orleans led to catastrophic flooding in the city.
- About 25,000 storm evacuees were sheltered at the Louisiana Superdome, a sports arena. Wind and water damage to the roof created unsafe conditions, leading authorities to conduct emergency evacuations of the Superdome.
- The total damage from Katrina is estimated to be $125 billion (or $193.8 billion in 2023 dollars), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Fatalities

NOAA report
- Direct deaths: 520
- Indirect deaths: 565
- Indeterminate cause: 307
- Total number of fatalities: 1,392

In an analysis of 971 fatalities in Louisiana and 15 additional deaths of storm evacuees, 40% of deaths were caused by drowning. 25% were caused by injury and trauma and 11% were caused by heart conditions.

Nearly half the fatalities in Louisiana were people over the age of 74.

Private Insurance Payments

Insurance Information Institute Report

Insurance companies have paid an estimated $41.1 billion on 1.7 million different claims for damage to vehicles, homes, and businesses in six states. Nearly 56% of the losses occurred in Louisiana and nearly 30% occurred in Mississippi.

By 2007, 99% of the 1.2 million personal property claims had been settled by insurers.

National Flood Insurance Payments

The National Flood Insurance Program paid out $16 billion in claims.

June 2006 - The Government Accountability Office releases a report that concludes at least $1 billion in disaster relief payments made by FEMA were improper and potentially fraudulent.

Impact on the Gulf Coast

More than one million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm. At their peak, hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. Later, approximately 114,000 households were housed in FEMA trailers.

During the first ten years after the storm, FEMA provided more than $15 billion to the Gulf states for public works projects, including the repair and rebuilding of roads, schools and buildings. The agency also provided $6.7 billion in recovery aid to more than one million people and households.

The majority of all federal aid, approximately $75 billion of $120.5 billion, funded emergency relief operations.

Impact on New Orleans

The population of New Orleans fell from 484,674 in April 2000 to 230,172 in July 2006, a decrease of over 50%. By 2022, the estimated population had increased to 369,749, according to the Census.

70% of New Orleans’ occupied housing, 134,000 units, were damaged in the storm.

Then —

A man in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward rides a canoe in high water on August 31, 2005. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. After levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans failed, much of the city was underwater. At least 1,833 died in the hurricane and subsequent floods. It was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Now —

A woman walks with a dog in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 16, 2015.

Then —

Robert Fontaine walks past a burning house fire in New Orleans' Seventh Ward on September 6, 2005.

Now —

Houses stand in the Seventh Ward on May 12, 2015.

Then —

Residents of the B.W. Cooper housing project play on mattresses on June 10, 2007. Before Hurricane Katrina, B.W. Cooper held about 1,000 families and was the city's largest housing project.

Now —

On May 12, 2015, rubble remains at what used to be the B.W. Cooper housing project. The low-income development has been replaced by two-story, townhouse-style buildings.

Then —

Duette Sims stands in the heavily damaged Christian Community Baptist Church in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward on August 28, 2007.

Now —

Parishioners gather during Sunday services in the rebuilt church on May 10, 2015.

Then —

On April 25, 2006, workers in the Lower Ninth Ward rebuild the levee that was breached by Hurricane Katrina along the Industrial Canal.

Now —

New homes stand along the rebuilt Industrial Canal levee on May 16, 2015.

Then —

Two men paddle through the streets past the Claiborne Bridge in New Orleans on August 31, 2005.

Now —

A school bus drops off a student in front of the Claiborne Bridge on May 12, 2015.

Then —

A lightning bolt strikes above a destroyed church in the Lower Ninth Ward on August 5, 2006. Dozens of churches were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Now —

New homes stand in the Lower Ninth Ward on May 15, 2015.

Then —

A group of Amish student volunteers tour the Lower Ninth Ward on February 24, 2006.

Now —

On May 16, 2015, new homes stand in a development, built by the Make It Right Foundation, for residents whose homes were destroyed.

Then —

Water floods a cemetery outside St. Patrick's Church in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on September 11, 2005.

Now —

The cemetery on May 16, 2015.

Hurricane Katrina: Then and now

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