The Katrina Index: Is the Gulf Coast safe?

One of the most shocking realities on the two-year anniversary of Katrina is how little has been done to protect the region and its people from future storms. The following statistics from the Institute's report, Blueprint for Gulf Renewal: The Katrina Crisis and a Community Agenda for Action, released this week.

Two Years After Katrina: Coastal Protection and Storm Defenses

Estimated number of years left to restore Louisiana’s wetlands before coastal communities are swallowed by the Gulf of Mexico: 10

Percent of the state’s population that lives in coastal parishes: 50

Distance the Gulf has moved inland since New Orleans' founding: 20 miles

Distance storm surge must travel over healthy wetlands to be diminished by a foot: 3.4 miles

Of the $21 billion water resources bill being considered by Congress and that President Bush threatened to veto over cost, amount devoted to Louisiana coastal wetlands restoration: $1.9 billion

Total estimated cost of a comprehensive program to restore the state’s coastal wetlands to a sustainable level: $14 billion

Square miles of protective wetlands destroyed in the New Orleans area by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet since the Army Corps of Engineers completed it in 1965: about 100

Number of those acres set for restoration in the Corps’ official plan for closing MR-GO: 0

Level of storm protection the Army Corps of Engineers is still trying to provide for New Orleans: 100 years

Level of storm protection that safeguards the Netherlands' port city of Amsterdam: 10,000 years

Labels: Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, katrina two year anniversary