GET ME REWRITE: Population of New Orleans is down 40% from its 1960 peak of 627,525

 

Katrina just pressed her foot on the accelerator.

Wikipedia

New Orleans Times Picayune, 1/3/2022

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So I'll cut and past from today's NOLA.com Lunch Line newsletter.

More than 16 years after Hurricane Katrina, the most recent census data shows a New Orleans population of 384,000 – more than 20% less than before the hurricane. It’s a gap of at least 100,000 people that, presumably, were never able to make it back to the city, Jeff Adelson and Chad Calder report.

Nonetheless, New Orleans' population increased nearly 12% during the past decade.