ABSTRACT
Over one million people in the New Orleans metropolitan region evacuated from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. As they evacuated, personal safety was their highest short-term priority. Once they had survived the storm, people worried about their homes. Would they have a standing home, and what would be its physical condition—flooded, roofless, etc? Another great concern was employment. Upon their return, would people have jobs? Would employers—both large and small—continue in business? If so, would that be in New Orleans, somewhere else in the metro region, or in some other part of the country? In what ways, good and bad, might the local economy change?
