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New Orleans Hits 60% of Pre-Katrina Population

Residents trickling back at 1% a month

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 9, 2007 5:55 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The population of New Orleans has rebounded to 60% of its pre-Katrina level nearly two years after the storm, the AP reports, based on the lastest survey. The city had 273,600 residents last month, up 50,200 from a year ago; 455,000 called the Big Easy home in July 2005.

The population has grown at about 1% a month, with returning residents concentrated in areas least affected by the hurricane. The population of the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward stands at just 7% of its pre-Katrina level. "Everything is happening in a natural progression, and when I say natural, I mean slow," said the demographer who authored the survey.

Aaron Hall, left, and Kevin Hewitt talk with reporters while working on Hewitt's home in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, May 23, 2007. Hewitt began pounding nails into his 140-year-old home just weeks after it was battered by Hurricane Katrina. But he soon realized the city required him...
Aaron Hall, left, and Kevin Hewitt talk with reporters while working on Hewitt's home in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, May 23, 2007. Hewitt began pounding nails into his 140-year-old home just weeks...   (Associated Press)
Kelly Kelbel, removes debris from a home in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, June 7, 2007. Kelbel, and fellow students from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N. C., are helping in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina. Many areas of the city are still struggling to recover from...
Kelly Kelbel, removes debris from a home in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, June 7, 2007. Kelbel, and fellow students from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N. C., are helping in the recovery...   (Associated Press)
A power boat can be seen in New Orleans' Municipal Yacht Harbor through a heavily damaged boathouse Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. Many of the boathouses have yet to be repaired from Hurricane Katrina, which struck the city Aug. 29, 2005. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
A power boat can be seen in New Orleans' Municipal Yacht Harbor through a heavily damaged boathouse Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. Many of the boathouses have yet to be repaired from Hurricane Katrina, which struck...   (Associated Press)
Rose Scott drives her tour van past devastated areas almost two years after Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke causing flooding through the area Aug. 29, 2005, Friday June 1, 2007 in Chalmette, La. a suburb of New Orleans. The tour is a 31/2 hours.(AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)
Rose Scott drives her tour van past devastated areas almost two years after Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke causing flooding through the area Aug. 29, 2005, Friday June 1, 2007 in Chalmette,...   (Associated Press)
The air traffic control tower at New Orleans Lake Lakefront Airport can be seen through a window of a building damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Wednesday, July 25, 2007, in New Orleans. Permanent air traffic control service is set to resume for the first time since Hurricane Katrina at an airport...
The air traffic control tower at New Orleans Lake Lakefront Airport can be seen through a window of a building damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Wednesday, July 25, 2007, in New Orleans. Permanent air traffic...   (Associated Press)
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA, and some fear the red tape will discourage companies from bidding on the big rebuilding projects that...
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA,...   (Associated Press)
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA, and some fear the red tape will discourage companies from bidding on the big rebuilding projects that...
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA,...   (Associated Press)
A child's toy car waits for the demolishing crew at a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA, and some fear the red tape will discourage companies from bidding on the big...
A child's toy car waits for the demolishing crew at a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by...   (Associated Press)
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA, and some fear the red tape will discourage companies from bidding on the big rebuilding projects that...
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA,...   (Associated Press)
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA, and some fear the red tape will discourage companies from bidding on the big rebuilding projects that...
Workers with the Unified Recover Group demolish a home in Chalmette, La., Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Contractors hired to clean up after Hurricane Katrina are fuming over delays in getting paid by FEMA,...   (Associated Press)
An aerial view of the work being performed on the 17th Street Canal that runs between the Lakeview Area of New Orleans at left, and the city of Metairie, in New Orleans, Tuesday June 26, 2007. The government's repairs to New Orleans' hurricane-damaged levees may have had the unintended consequence...
An aerial view of the work being performed on the 17th Street Canal that runs between the Lakeview Area of New Orleans at left, and the city of Metairie, in New Orleans, Tuesday June 26, 2007. The government's...   (Associated Press)
Fishing boats still rest along the levee on Highway 90 in eastern New Orleans Wednesday, May 23, 2007. Progress in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina is spotty along U.S. 90, a coastal highway that spans the length of Katrina's destructive path, from New Orleans to the southeastern tip of Mississippi's...
Fishing boats still rest along the levee on Highway 90 in eastern New Orleans Wednesday, May 23, 2007. Progress in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina is spotty along U.S. 90, a coastal highway that spans...   (Associated Press)
Aaron Hall works on the home of his friend Kevin Hewitt in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, May 23, 2007. Hewitt began pounding nails into his 140-year-old home just weeks after it was battered by Hurricane Katrina. But he soon realized the city required him to go far...
Aaron Hall works on the home of his friend Kevin Hewitt in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, May 23, 2007. Hewitt began pounding nails into his 140-year-old home just weeks after it was battered by...   (Associated Press)
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Hurricane Katrina • New Orleans • Big Easy • population • natural disaster

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