[Cross-posted at MLW]
A continuing series of raw figures compiled to reflect the magnitude of the Katrina disaster. [Prior stats available: Week 1 - 2]
Included this week are stats collected in the following categories:
- Human Costs
- Search, Rescue, Evacuation, Cleanup, and Relief Efforts
- Pets
- Picking up the Pieces
- Politics
- Environment
- Economy
- Industry
- Education
- Charity
Much more below the fold...
Human Costs
- # displaced by Katrina: ~1,000,000
- # of total confirmed fatalities attributed to Katrina: 794
- # of official LA deaths: 558
- # of official MS deaths: 218
- # of official FL deaths: 14
- # of official AL deaths: 2
- # of official GA deaths: 2
Search, Rescue, Evacuation, Cleanup, and Relief Efforts
- # of days in which corpses have been seen out in the open: 18
- # of days since Katrina struck the Gulf Coast: 18
- % of NOLA still flooded: 40-50% [down from 80%]
- # of gallons of floodwater being pumped from NOLA: 8 billion per day
- # of feet of water at highest levels: 6-8 feet along Lake Pontchartrain [down from 10-16 feet]
- # of weeks ahead of schedule Army Corps of Engineers expects to have completely drained city: 1
- # for the Katrina Missing Person's Hotline: 1-888-544-5475
- # of calls placed to the hotline as of 9/15: 16,637
- # of children reported missing: 2,709
- # of missing children cases recovered or otherwise resolved: 701
- # of children still unaccounted for: >2,000
- # of missing adults reported to hotline: 7,205
- # of adult cases resolved: 943
- # of missing adults still unaccounted for: >6,200
- # of NOLA police officers still unaccounted for: ~350
- # of hits on LA Tech's meta-search engine [at www.searchkatrina.org] making it faster to search numerous evacuee databases: 1,000
- # of states President Bush has declared disaster areas as a result of Katrina: 41 [includes states receiving evacuees]
- # of days before French Quarter and Garden District residents allowed to return: 10
- % of 911 emergency response service for initial returning residents/businesses: 0
- # of hospitals that will have only basic, triage-type care available: 2
- % of reopened areas that will have power before people are allowed to return: 75%
- # est. months (per Mayor Nagin) until NOLA reaches its pre-disaster population: 6
- # of mobile housing units FEMA is moving into Gulf Coast for evacuees: 300,000
- # of units FEMA hopes to have ready for occupancy by end of October: 100,000
- # of units occupied today: 491
- # of housing units secured for relief/rebuilding workers: 14,366 [3,366 on docked cruise ships + ~11,000 hotel rooms]
- # of military troops providing relief support: 72,614
Pets
- # of dogs airlifted last Sunday to temp homes in California: 80
- $ paid by TX oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens to charter dog airlift flight: $50,000
- # of dogs airlift planned to rescue from LA: 200 [bureaucracy prevented]
- # of animals rescued to date: >6,000
- # est. of remaining pets in NOLA alone: ~30,000
Picking up the Pieces
- $ maximum reimbursement of claims covered by federal flood insurance: $250,000
- # of NOLA families banding together to file lawsuit yesterday asking state judge to rule flooding should be covered by homeowners policies: 15
- $ insurance industry reserves [Katrina-affected companies]: $500 billion
- $ est. losses faced by property owners: ~$50 billion
- # of $2,500 advance checks handed out by State Farm to homeowners hurt by Katrina: ~90,000
- $ cost to State Farm to cut the above checks: $225 million
- # of displaced NOLA lawyers: 7,500
- # of days TX high court has ordered LA, MS, AL law license holders free to practice in their state without fear of reprisal: 30
- $ of tax cuts approved for Katrina survivors and people who shelter them: $5 billion
- # of new claims for unemployment in LA, AL, and MS to date: 210,000
- # of new claims filed last week alone: 200,000
- # of years since last comparable one-week surge in jobless claims filed: 10
- # of LA claims filed from out of state via telephone or online: 60,000
- $ avg. Baton Rouge, LA family of 4 basic cost of living expenses: $715/week
- $ avg. national cap on maximum unemployment benefits: $377.18/week
- $ LA's max unemployment benefit cap: $258/week
- $ AL's max unemployment benefit cap: $220/week
- $ MS's max unemployment benefit cap: $210/week
- # US rank of MS unemployment benefit availability: #50
- # US rank of AL unemployment benefit availability: #49
- # US rank of LA unemployment benefit availability: #45
- $ avg. monthly MS food stamp benefit: $79.81/per person
- $ avg. monthly AL food stamp benefit: $85.85/per person
- $ avg. monthly LA food stamp benefit: $89.03/per person
- # of debit cards issued to victims from FEMA and American Red Cross: ~30,000
- # of arrests for trying to collect more than one Katrina aid check/debit card: 11
Politics
- # final House vote to create a special congressional committee to investigate government response to Katrina: 224 vs. 188
- % of US population disapproving of job Bush is doing: 53% [CBS]
- % who think the country is "on the wrong track:" 63% [CBS]
- % who think Bush was too slow to respond to Katrina: 65% [CBS]
- # of prime time post-Katrina national addresses by President Bush: 1
Environment
- # of days a new measure introduced by the Chair of the Senate environment committee would allow EPA to waive/modify environmental laws in affected areas: 120
- # of toxic Superfund sites damaged by Katrina: 31
- # of chemical, manufacturing, or sewage plants damaged: 466
- # of major oil spills in NOLA: at least 7
- # of barrels of crude oil spilt: >6.5 million gallons
- # of barrels of crude lost in Alaska Exxon Valdez spill: 11 million
- # of barrels released in Murphy Oil facility spill in Chalmette alone: 880,000
- # thickness of oily slime film in Chalmette, LA: 6 inches
- % of oil from spills yet to be recovered: 75% [not including gas, oil from submerged cars, gas stations]
- # est. of cars submerged: ~250,000
- # of hazardous waste sites still submerged, leaking chemicals buried long ago: at least 1
- # of containers containing everything from gas to medical waste collected: 5,000
- # of calls to EPA and Coast Guard regarding oil and chemical spills: 396
- # of wildlife refuges along LA coast now closed: 16
- % of 18,273-acre Breton National Wildlife Refuge completely destroyed: 50%
- $ est. cost of above damage to Breton NWF: $94 million
- # of sea turtle nests lost along AL coast: ~50
Hurricane Facts
- # of mph wind speeds in Category 5 hurricane: >155 mph
- # of mph wind speeds in Category 4 hurricane: between 131 - 155 mph
- # increase in powerful hurricanes ranked Cat 4 or 5 detected since 1990 vs. 1970-85: 2X
- # of Cat. 4/5 hurricanes originating from Atlantic from 1975-1989: 16 [avg. 0.8/year]
- # of Cat. 4/5 hurricanes originating from Atlantic from 1990-2004: 25 [avg. 2.3/year]
- # increase of Atlantic Ocean surface temperature since 1970: 1 degree Fahrenheit
Economy
- # jobless claims rose in the week ended 9/10: 398,000
- # of above that were Katrina-related: 68,000 [does not reflect true/full claims of those affected, however]
- % jump in prices paid in September by manufacturing firms: 50%
- % 10-year US Treasury debt prices slid yesterday on above news: 4.22 [from 4.17 day earlier]
Industry
- # of days Domino Sugar plant in Arabi, LA had gone without lost time to injury pre-Katrina: 452
- # of days Domino Sugar plant has been back online post-Katrina: 0
- % of plant's workers who've lost their homes: 50-60%
- # of NOLA hotels that have reopened: 6
- # of NOLA hotels to be reopened by end of next week: 35-40
- # of people NOLA tourism employed: 81,000 [city's biggest employer]
- # of major US air carriers that have declared bankruptcy since Katrina: 2
- % of current US airline seats offered by airlines operating under court protection: 50%
Education
- # of students displaced by Katrina: 372,000
- # of LA and MS schools closed: >700
- $ cost of educating displaced students: $2.8 billion
- % of FEMA funds that may be used to hire teachers or buy books: 0
- # of college students displaced: 73,000
- # of college campuses closed: 15
- # of states that have taken in displaced students: 25
Charity
- $ pulled in during NBC Universal's "Concert for Hurricane Relief:" $40 million
- # of viewers who tuned in to above (the 1st big broadcast event to air): 8.5 million
- $ raised by multi-network "Shelter from the Storm" benefit: $30 million
- # of people watching: 22 million [on 29 US television outlets]
- $ raised by Velvet Revolver at 9/6 show: $250,000
- $ pulled in at 9/12 Dave Matthews Band show: $1.5 million
- $ of donations collected during BET's "S.O.S." telethon: $11 million
- $ price of ticket to special 10/5 Pearl Jam benefit for victims: $1,000
- % of performance fees from special Roots-headlining show donated: 100%
- % of proceeds from special digital Coldplay EP going to victims: 100%
- # of jobs posted at Monstor.com's free online service to help Katrina survivors: 500
Sources:
Houston Chronicle: 11 Accused of Seeking More Checks Are Arrested
Washington Post [DC]: Finding Relief - Slowly
Washington Times [DC]: Katrina's Displaced Students
Bloomington Pantagraph [IL]: Katrina Displaced 372,00 Students
Science Daily: Researchers Create Meta-search Engine to Help Locate Displaced People
Law.com: Katrina-Displaced Lawyers Get Court's OK to Practice in Texas
Natural Resources Defense Council: Hurricane Recovery: Toxic, Oily Goo Covers Region
New York Times: Bill Would Let EPA Relax Rules for Cleanup
New York Times: Airlift Transports 80 Dogs to Safety
Houston Chronicle: Report Finds `Sobering' Impact on Environment
San Jose Mercury News: Katrina was the Straw that Broke Two Airlines' Backs
Washington Post: Major Developments in Katrina's Aftermath
Houston Chronicle: Nagin Gives Go-ahead for City to Crawl Back to Life
Guardian Unlimited: Katrina Oil Spills May Be Among Worst on Record
Voice of America: House Approved Creation of Committee to Investigate Katrina Response
andPOP: Pearl Jam, the Roots, Coldplay Lend a Hand to Katrina Relief Efforts
InformationWeek: Monster.com Launches Free Job-Posting Site for Katrina Victims
Chicago Tribune: Groups Seek Help in Saving Lost Pets
Houston Chronicle: Study Links Global Warming to Stronger Storms
CBS: Reuniting Families after Katrina
Reuters: Treasuries Flat to Lower, Post-Katrina Data in Focus
Times-Picayune: Nola.com
Billboard: Katrina Telethon, Benefit Totals Roll In
Knight Ridder: New Orleans Area Businesses Assess Damage, Slowly Reopen
Detroit Free Press: Katrina Aftermath: Restoration Developments