**SIX MONTHS AFTER KATRINA: AN OVERVIEW**

***Tens of Thousands of Katrina Survivors Are Still Suffering***

***And The Future of Gulf Coast Remains Unclear***

Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. There
have been 1,330 confirmed deaths from the storm -- and there are 2,096
people still missing. Six months after Katrina struck on August 29, tens
of thousands of Katrina survivors are still suffering. Many in the Gulf
Coast feel neglected and abandoned. In many areas, there is still no
visible sign of recovery. How successfully the Gulf Coast is rebuilt
remains to be seen -- and will depend on the decisions of many in
federal, state and local government over the next critical weeks and
months. Following is a brief overview.

**[Overall]{.underline}**

**Hundreds of thousands of households continue to face major obstacles
restarting their lives.** Nearly 750,000 households remain displaced by
Katrina, including about 650,000 who are receiving rental assistance of
about \$800 a month. Mortgage delinquency rates skyrocketed between the
second and third quarter of the calendar year. In the state of
Louisiana, for instance, nearly one out of every four loans is now 30 or
more days past due. \[Brookings Institution Katrina Index, 2/06\]

**Only one-third of the residents of New Orleans have returned.** Before
Katrina, the parish of New Orleans had a population of 463,000. So far,
only about one-third of those residents have returned -- with the
population now estimated at about 150,000. Some residents of New Orleans
are currently living in other parts of Louisiana and many others are
living in other states. Indeed, the population of the entire state of
Louisiana has been estimated to have been reduced by 8 percent since
Katrina -- from 4.5 million pre-Katrina to 4.1 million today.
\[Brookings\]

**The Mississippi Gulf Coast has been devastated.** The extent of the
devastation in Mississippi is also staggering. Since Katrina hit, more
than half a million people in Mississippi have applied for assistance
from FEMA. In a state of just 2.9 million residents, that means more
than one in six Mississippians have sought help. More than 97,000 people
are still living in FEMA trailers and mobile homes. Another 5,000 to
6,000 are still waiting for FEMA trailers. Almost six months later, many
neighborhoods are still piled high with storm debris. \[USA Today,
2/16/06\]

**[Housing]{.underline}**

**Hundreds of thousands of homes were completely or partially destroyed
by Hurricane Katrina.** The devastation caused unimaginable destruction
of homes -- in both Louisiana and Mississippi. In Louisiana, there are
at least 128,000 houses that are severely damaged and another 67,000
houses that are at least moderately damaged. In Mississippi, there are
about 70, 000 severely and moderately damaged homes.

**Hundreds of thousands of displaced families have struggled to find a
place to live, to stabilize their lives.** Over the last six months,
FEMA has caused unnecessary suffering for families by failing to have an
effective housing policy. For example, FEMA failed to take effective
actions to identify apartments for displaced families, and has failed to
issue clear guidance on whether and how long families will continue to
receive federal rental assistance -- causing anxiety and confusion.

**Congress must enact \$4.2 billion supplemental for Katrina homeowners
quickly, but without strings attached.** In the supplemental enacted by
Congress in December, only \$6.2 billion was provided to help homeowners
in Louisiana to rebuild. The Administration now acknowledges that an
additional \$4.2 billion is necessary to allow rebuilding to begin.
Quick action is now needed by Congress on this \$4.2 billion -- but
without the unnecessary restrictions included in the Administration's
request that would impede the ability of Louisiana homeowners to rebuild
their homes. As a New York Times editorial (2/17/06) has pointed out,
*"[Congress needs to approve this request quickly for New Orleans and
the surrounding parishes to have a fighting chance at anything but a
patchwork recovery. Half a year was too long to wait.]{.underline}"*

**As of mid-February, almost 60,000 families had not received the
trailers they had been promised.** Months after Katrina struck the Gulf
Coast, tens of thousands of residents remain without trailers promised
by the federal government for use as temporary shelter while they
rebuild. As of Feb. 9, of the 130,000 requests for trailers that the
Federal Emergency Management Agency had received from families, only 54
percent had been filled -- leaving 59,440 families without the trailers
they had been promised. \[NYTimes, 2/9/06\]

**Unemployment Benefits**

**Both regular and disaster unemployment insurance (UI) benefits run out
for Katrina survivors on March 4.** On February 15, the Senate passed a
bill to extend jobless unemployment benefits for 150,000 hurricane
survivors who are about to exhaust their regular or disaster UI
benefits. Those who lost their jobs due to Hurricane Katrina will lose
their UI benefits on Saturday, March 4. The House needs to quickly pass
the Senate-passed bill and send it to the President's desk for his
signature -- and yet, without any explanation, the House Republican
leadership has [failed]{.underline} to schedule the Senate bill for
floor consideration this week.

**Small Business Loans**

**There is an enormous backlog of disaster loan applications at the
SBA.** SBA has received 280,000 disaster loan applications from small
businesses and homeowners for Hurricane Katrina and has approved only 37
percent of them. It has a backlog of 105,664 pending applications. Of
the loans it has approved, SBA has paid out less than 10 percent of
those loans. \[Small Business Committee\]

**K-12 Education**

**Gulf Coast schools are severely damaged.** Schools across the Gulf
Coast were devastated by the hurricane. More than 400 school buildings
were damaged or destroyed and many will not reopen before the end of the
school year. As a result of Katrina, the New Orleans school system is
drastically smaller. Before Katrina struck, there were 117 public
schools in New Orleans Parish -- educating 54,000 students. And yet now,
six months after Katrina, there are only 18 public schools operating --
educating only 8,400 students. \[Brookings\]

**Colleges and Universities**

**Many colleges and universities are in need of enormous aid to get back
on their feet.** The physical damage to the New Orleans colleges alone
is estimated at \$1 billion. And as a result of the staggering damage,
many of the New Orleans colleges have been forced to lay off hundreds of
faculty and staff: Dillard University has laid off two-thirds of its
faculty and staff; Tulane University has laid off more than 600 faculty
and staff; Southern University at New Orleans has furloughed more than
two-thirds of its faculty and staff; and 30 percent of Xavier
University's faculty and staff have been laid off. \[Education &
Workforce Cmte.\]

**Health Care**

**Most hospitals in New Orleans remain closed.** Hospitals in New
Orleans also suffered devastating damage because of Hurricane Katrina.
There were 22 hospitals in New Orleans Parish before Katrina -- today,
there are only seven hospitals open. Hence, waits at a hospital
emergency room can exceed six hours.

![](media/image1.wmf)Office of the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi,
February 28, 2006