New Orleans diaspora New Orleans diaspora The New Orleans diaspora refers to the population evacuated or forced to flee from New Orleans, Louisiana, by the effects of Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005. As of 2017, New Orleans had an estimated population of 393,292, a decrease in population from the 445,000 residents of the city prior to Hurricane Katrina. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans had experienced a decrease in population of 18% (109,000 residents) between 1970 and 2000, and which fell by a further 6% (30,000 residents) from 2000 to 2005. In the initial period following Hurricane Katrina, there were
1915 New Orleans hurricane seas produced by the hurricane along the Louisiana coast arrived shortly before the storm made landfall. Evacuees departing the coast as late as September 28 reported no abnormal tides along the shore. However, sea levels began to rise at abnormally rapid rates on the morning of September 29 as the hurricane neared. By the afternoon hours, low-lying lands south of New Orleans and east towards Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, as well as areas adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain, were inundated by the quickly rising storm surge. Levee overtopping along Lake Pontchartrain resulted in the flooding of much of western New Orleans.