Poverty worsens hurricane impact — AP analysis

The following is from an Associated Press report.

An Associated Press analysis of Census data shows that the residents in the three dozen hardest-hit neighborhoods in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama also were disproportionately minority and had incomes $10,000 below the national average.

The AP analysis showed:

• Median household income in the most devastated neighborhood was $32,000, or $10,000 less than the national average.
• Two in 10 households in the disaster area had no car, compared with 1 in 10 in nationwide.
• Nearly 25 percent of those living in the hardest-hit areas were below the poverty line, about double the national average. About 4.5 percent in the disaster area received public assistance; nationwide, the number was about 3.5 percent.
• About 60 percent of the 700,000 people in the three dozen neighborhoods were minority. Nationwide, about 1 in 3 Americans is a racial minority.
• One in 200 American households doesn’t have adequate plumbing. One in 100 households in the most affected areas didn’t have decent plumbing, which, according to the Census, includes running hot and cold water, a shower or bath and an indoor toilet.
• Nationwide, about 7 percent of households with children are headed by a single mother. In the three dozen neighborhoods, 12 percent were single-mother households.

Money and transportation — two keys to surviving a natural disaster — were inaccessible for many who got left behind in the Gulf region’s worst squalor. People living in the path of Hurricane Katrina’s worst devastation were twice as likely as most Americans to be poor and without a car — factors that may help explain why so many failed to evacuate as the storm approached

— AP

Hurricane Katrina reports from mongabay.com

• How to help the New Orleans Zoo and Aquarium after hurricane – 5-September-2005

  Despite escaping Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed, the zoo and aquarium facilities in New Orleans could use donations to help with the feeding and care of their animals.

• New Orleans Aquarium and Zoo faring well since hurricane – 4-September-2005

  Audubon Zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans survived Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed according to reports from operators of the facilities. However, in neighboring Mississippi, the Gulport Marine Life Oceanarium aquarium was totally destroyed.

• Aerial photos of Hurricane Katrina destruction – 2-September-2005
  NOAA posted online more than 1450 aerial images of the U.S. Gulf Coast areas that were decimated by Hurricane Katrina. NOAA will be flying more missions in the days ahead that will yield hundreds of additional aerial digital images. The regions photographed on Tuesday range from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula, Miss. The southeast coastal areas of Louisiana are being photographed on Wednesday. The aerial photograph missions were conducted by the NOAA Remote Sensing Division the day after Katrina made landfall at approximately 7:10 a.m. EDT on Aug. 29, 2005, in Plaquemines Parish, La.

• Hurricane news, by county and city, for LA, MS – 1-September-2005

  Links to news updates. Organized by city and country.

• NASA releases satellite photos showing flooded New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina – 1-September-2005

  NASA released satellite photos showing destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. The images, available on NASA’s Earth Observatory web site clearly show signficant parts of the city inundated with flood water.

• Environmental problems worsened Hurricane Katrina’s impact – 31-August-2005

  The loss of coastal marshlands that buffer New Orleans from flooding and storm surges may have worsened the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

• Food safety tips after Hurricane Katrina – 30-August-2005

  As Hurricane Katrina hits Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants area residents to be prepared for the aftermath. FDA is providing important tips to help people affected by this storm to protect their health and food supply.

• Hurricanes getting stronger due to global warming says study – 29-August-2005

  Late last month an atmospheric scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a study in Nature that found hurricanes have grown significantly more powerful and destructive over the past three decades. Kerry Emanuel, the author of the study, warns that since hurricanes depend on warm water to form and build, global climate change might increase the effect of hurricanes still further in coming years.

1998 Figures from the IRS. By zip code and sorted by “income per return.”

LOUISIANA | MISSISSIPPI

Other ways to help

• American Red Cross — (800) HELP-NOW
• Feed the Children — (800) 525-7575
• Salvation Army — (800) SAL-ARMY
• Florida Hurricane Relief Fund
• America’s Second Harvest — (800) 771-2303
• North Shore Animal League — (877) 4savepet
• Habitat for Humanity — (800) HABITAT
• The United Way — (800) 272-4630
• Humane Society of America — (888) 259-5431
• ASPCA — (866) 275-3923
• The Baton Rouge Area Foundation — (877) 387-6126
• Food for the Hungry — (877) 780-4261 ext 2506
• Northwest Medical Teams — (800) 959-4325
• World Relief — (800) 535-5433
• Save the Children — (800) 728-3843
• International Medical Corps — (800) 481-4462
• American Friends Service Committee — (888) 588-2378
• AmeriCares — (800) 486-4357
• International Aid — (800) 251-2502
• International Medical Corps — (800) 481-4462
• International Relief and Development, Inc. — (703) 248-0161
• International Relief Teams — (619) 284-7979
• International Rescue Committee — (877) 733-8433
• Life for Relief and Development — (800) 827-3543
• MAP International — (866) 627-4483
• Mercy (M-USA) — (800) 55-MERCY
• Operation USA — (800) 678-7255
• Oxfam America — (800) 77OXFAM
• Relief International — (800) 573-3332
• World Concern — (800) 755-5022 ext. 0
• Moveon.org: Hurricane housing

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