Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005) is the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, causing severe destruction to Louisiana, across the entire Mississippi coast and into Alabama.  Worst hit was New Orleans where floodwaters covered 80% of the city, causing 1,836 deaths and destroying 200,000 homes at an estimated cost of $81.2 billion.
 
Although significant progress has been made in much of the region and many former residents have returned to New Orleans, the population remains at 2/3’s of its pre-Katrina levels. The city has lost 9,000 units of affordable housing, causing rents to rise 45%.  Since most of the families which want to come home have incomes of less than $20,000/year, the rental situation has made their return difficult at best.  Additionally, New Orleans’ homeless population has more than doubled to 12,000 and jobs remain scarce.
 
Another alarming indicator is the current crime rate in New Orleans. Remarkably, New Orleans’ 2007 murder rate was up 30% over 2006 and now dwarfs that of every other large U.S. city on a per capita basis. 
 
Aid Still Required is partnering with other NGOs such as ‘Global Green,’ ‘Make It Right’ and ‘Common Ground Relief’ to build affordable and sustainable homes and schools in the 9th Ward of New Orleans and restore the wetlands.  The dense housing of the 9th Ward has been mostly dismantled since Katrina and provides a clear landscape to rebuild with structures that will endure and promote health for its residents as well as for the area.  New homes will be occupied by the end of summer 2008.

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