Displacement Dynamics in Southern Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Makiko Hori, Louisiana State University
David Bowman, Louisiana Recovery Authority

The scarcity of available data sources makes it difficult to study displacement dynamics after a large-scale natural disaster. However, policy-makers and service-providers require timely, detailed data reporting and describing the displacement of people due to disaster, the impact on overall population change, and the geographic redistribution of the resident population. In an attempt to provide a better understanding of displacement dynamics after the 2005 hurricanes, state agencies commissioned the 2006 Louisiana Health and Population Survey (LHPS). With technical assistance from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2006 LHPS sought to provide the accurate population estimates and collect the demographic and health information in hurricane-affected parishes. Our proposed paper will utilize this unique dataset to describe the displacement dynamics (in-migration, out-migration, and relocation within parishes). These displacement dynamics add nuance to the broader “net effects” measures commonly reported in media reports of population changes.