New Orleans population whiter, smaller post-storm

NEW ORLEANS, June 8 (Reuters) The population of the New Orleans area declined by 39 percent and became whiter, older and richer in the months after Hurricane Katrina mauled the city, the US Census Bureau has estimated.

The number of residents in Orleans Parish, the district including the city of New Orleans, fell by 64 per cent to 158,353 people in the six months to January 1, 2006, from 437,186, a bureau report said yesterday.

The greater New Orleans metropolitan area saw its population fall 39 per cent to 723,830 in the last three months of 2005, from 1.2 million before Katrina's rampage in August, the bureau said.

As the population fell, the racial balance also shifted sharply, it said. The proportion of blacks in the city and surrounding metropolitan area dropped to 22 per cent of the population from 37 per cent before the storm. Whites grew to 73 percent of the population, from about 60 per cent before.

The population of New Orleans is changing from day to day as the city and US Gulf Coast recover from Katrina, which hit New Orleans on August 29, killing more than 1,500 in Louisiana.

Some those who left the city have returned since January, and city officials and analysts say families are moving back at a brisker pace over the summer as they prepare for a new school year in the fall.

Greg Rigamer, of planning and consulting firm GCR&Associates, estimated that the current population of New Orleans city was about 220,000, or half the pre-storm level, and would rise to about 250,000 to 275,000 by the end of the year.

Census Bureau researchers estimated the median age of metropolitan-area residents rose to 41.6 years from 37.7 before the storm, while the average household income rose to ,122 from 55,326 dollar.

Many Latino day laborers have moved into the area, where tens of thousands of homes are being repaired -- or torn down.

Poorer former residents, often black, were dealt the worst blow, although 80 per cent of the city flooded. Many homes were destroyed and others will have to be demolished, state officials say.

REUTERS PR VA KP0957