Dear friends and colleagues,
When Katrina struck and the levees failed ten years ago, many pointed out that this would be the first of many large scale catastrophes the world would witness.
This awful prediction has come true with hurricanes, earthquakes, and extensive flooding causing billions of dollars of damage and hundreds of thousands of deaths around the globe since 2005.
With larger population centers, sea level rise, and more extreme weather events, disasters are sure to continue. Here alone we’ve experienced Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Isaac, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, all in the last ten years.
With this in mind, The New Orleans Index at Ten examines how well metro New Orleans has bounced back from Katrina, and also whether the region is developing the capacities needed to be resilient in the face of all future shocks.
The New Orleans Index at Ten reveals that the New Orleans economy is rebounding impressively, and that New Orleanians have worked hard to rebuild while at the same time transforming and bettering their institutions.
But far too many New Orleanians are not participating in the region’s growing prosperity. With growing income inequality and persistently high poverty rates, too many of us will struggle to be resilient the next time a disaster strikes.
What’s next?
Learn more by checking out The New Orleans Index at Ten: Measuring New Orleans’ Progress toward Prosperity at:
With gratitude for your undying love for this city and region,
The Data Center team
Whitney Soenksen, Allison Plyer, Nihal Shrinath, Rebecca Osakwe, Vicki Mack, and Caroline Heffernan
