New Orleans may have hit plateau

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Rick Jervis

NEW ORLEANS -- The repopulation of New Orleans three years after Hurricane Katrina slowed drastically last year and may be hitting a plateau, a study released today finds.

The city's population grew 3% from 2007 to 2008, compared with a 19% increase from 2006 to 2007, according to the report by the Brookings Institution and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Overall, the city is at about 72% of its pre-Katrina population of 450,000.

Evacuees will continue returning to the city, though at a much slower rate than immediately after the August 2005 hurricane, says Amy Liu of the Brookings Institution and co-author of the report. The population numbers are based on U.S. Postal Service data of households actively getting mail service in the region. ...