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Data: Most Hurricane Katrina victims were not black
Submitted by SHNS on Wed, 02/20/2008 - 13:12.
Contrary to widely accepted perception, most of the Hurricane Katrina victims were not African American, according to recently released data.
Nearly 51 percent of the people who died in the 2005 storm were white, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. About 46 percent of the 825 deaths attributed directly to that Category 3 hurricane were black. Hispanics, Asians and American Indians made up the remaining deaths.
"The initial belief by a lot of folks that minorities were impacted to a greater extent turned out not to be the case," said Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Whites made up most of the deaths even though the population of New Orleans, the city hit hardest by the resulting floods, was 67 percent black.
John Mutter, professor of earth and environmental sciences and public affairs at Columbia University, surmised that blacks had stronger neighborhood ties and were able to help friends and family members more so than whites, many of whom were not native to the area.
"I think the black families were more or less intact," Mutter said. "They lived close to one another. They didn't move very far."
The data showed that blacks were more likely to drown or die of a physical injury than whites. They were more than twice as likely than whites to die along a street or highway. Whites, meanwhile, were more likely than blacks to die in a nursing home.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Data: Most Hurricane Katrina victims were not black
Although the data collected incredibly prooved that lots more whites died in the storm, and the reasons given were true, more blacks suffered during Katrina and are still suffering as a result of the storm.
Take New Orleans alone, where many blacks cannot return to their homes because they were renters. And those who have returned cannot afford the incredible rise in the cost of rent.
I spent several days New Orleans in the flood waters of Katrina and 100% of the people I saw while there were black. When I was airlifted from my almost watery grave and brought to the airport, 99% of the people I saw there were black. When we boarded that Navy DC-9 100% of the people were black.
Studies, theory, and the real world are quite different.
Hurrican Katrina victims
It's important to know what the CDC and the reporter mean by the phrase "deaths attributed directly to that Category 3 hurricane." They could have made the definition so narrow that many deaths would be ruled out of the statistics. There just isn't enough information here to make a judgement or to know whether the CDC is intentionally conveying a different message with statistics or not. It's true that some other communities on the Gulf Coast that were hit were whiter than New Orleans.
In addition, since the article presumably is about the entire Gulf Coast, according to the title, I thought the number was closer to 1,000. How are they (CDC and reporter) accounting for the difference in the numbers?
Victims of Kitrina
What I saw on television news showed that the mojority of victims were black. So I would like to really know where you got your information from and how you can come to that conclusion that there was more whites affected. What some people will do for a moment of glory. Shame, shame on you
"What I saw on
"What I saw on television..." If it was on the tv then it has to be true. Why is it so important to you people that more black people died than whites? I'm really tired of all the black racists in this country. Please educate yourself and stop being such a victim.
My dad's house got destroyed in the hurricane...does it make it less awful since he is white?
Dumb.
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