Rita's victims wealthier than Katrina's

Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Hurricane Rita smashed into a region that is wealthier, more mobile and much less densely populated than the one devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Most of Rita's victims are by no means wealthy. But they are less likely to live in poverty, more likely to own a car, and less likely to be a member of a minority group than were Katrina's victims, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data.

Experts said the wealth and mobility of people in Rita's path — combined with a new sense of urgency following Katrina — led to a more thorough evacuation.

"They have cars," said Carnot Nelson, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida. "They have a way to leave. It's as simple as that."

Money and transportation were in short supply for many affected by Katrina.

In densely populated New Orleans, more than 27 percent of the households had no access to a vehicle, according to 2000 census data. The family median income, at $32,300, was nearly $20,000 below the national average.

Fred Medway, a psychology professor at the University of South Carolina, said Katrina's destruction provided incentive for people to flee Rita.

"They have seen what a hurricane can do," Medway said. "That's a very powerful motivator."

Rita made landfall along the Texas-Louisiana line, and worked its way north, bringing flood waters inland.

On the Texas side is Jefferson County, home to Port Arthur and Beaumont, two oil refining towns. To the north are Orange, Jasper and Newton counties.

On the Louisiana side is Calcasieu Parish, home to Lake Charles, and Beauregard Parish to the north.

The AP analysis of 2000 census data showed:

_A majority of residents in all six counties and parishes at the center of Rita's wrath are white. Jefferson County, where about 34 percent of the residents are black, has the largest minority population. New Orleans, by comparison, was 67 percent black.

_Rita's eye tracked over mostly rural areas. The most densely populated county hit by Rita was Jefferson, with 279 residents per square mile. Jasper, Newton and Beauregard all had fewer than 50 people per square mile.

Orleans Parish in Louisiana, home to New Orleans, had 2,684 residents per square mile.

_None of the counties had median family incomes above the national median of $50,000, but all had incomes above the median in New Orleans, which was $32,300.

_All six counties and parishes had higher poverty rates than the national average of 9.2 percent. But none came close the 24 percent of families in New Orleans living below the poverty level.

_Relatively few people in the six counties and parishes did not have access to a vehicle. About 10 percent of the households in tiny Newton County did not have a vehicle, the highest percentage among the counties. In New Orleans, 27 percent of the households did not have a car or truck.
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Because, you know, this is the most important story of the day...
 
Experts said the wealth and mobility of people in Rita's path — combined with a new sense of urgency following Katrina — led to a more thorough evacuation.
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:spam3:
 
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CNN poll I saw this morning. 27% of NO victims didn't even have a job to start with. 31% of all Katrina victims.
 
The scale of it is. And I think it might be news to some of the people thinking that these folks lost everything. They didn't have it to start with. Time to stop giving them money, and just give them the food stamps they were due to start with.
 
Professur said:
Time to stop giving them money, and just give them the food stamps they were due to start with.
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The root of the problem, right there.

They are due nothing. They were due nothing before the storm hit. They thought they were, but they weren't.

Get off your ass, get a job, and then I'll be glad to help you with the rest. You don't work, you don't eat. *barring legitimate disability, please note
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
The root of the problem, right there.

They are due nothing. They were due nothing before the storm hit. They thought they were, but they weren't.

Get off your ass, get a job, and then I'll be glad to help you with the rest. You don't work, you don't eat. *barring legitimate disability, please note
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My sentiments exactly. We work our asses off to have what we have and be able to survive. Yet, when we're stuck or down on our luck we get nothing.

These people had nothing, and yet we're showering them with money and supplies.
 
The unemployment rate for NO, pre-hurricane was astonishing. Where the hillboy & I seperate is the "no job, no car, no nothing" thing. These folx, the perpetually doled to, learn to work the system. They have jobs, under the table. They have vehicles. Some clunkers but a surprisingly large number of new, clean & stylish models that I, as a working class stiff, envy. If I paid no taxes, paid $12.75/mo in rent, didn't have to plunk down my hard earned income for gas, power & food, my wife & I would drive 7series Beemers & eat at Eddie Merlots regularly.
 
Jeez, trying to be inoffensive (you get so rankled about hillbilly :) ) & see where it get ya
 
So cause they were poor before, they should live in ditches now.

They have lost homes, personal possessions, and dont' have 2 cents to there name, never had enought to have a large bank account to pull on, and you want to deny them the right to re-start there lives, just because they where poor, and had a life you don't envy?
 
Uki Chick said:
My sentiments exactly. We work our asses off to have what we have and be able to survive. Yet, when we're stuck or down on our luck we get nothing.

These people had nothing, and yet we're showering them with money and supplies.
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Yes, let's all band together and cut off all support for victims of one of the worst disasters in US history! If 27% were unemployed let's just say "screw you" to the entire 100% right?

You think the entire 27% of unemployed had absolutely nothing to start with? I would think they had something. It might even seem plausible that some portion of the 27% could be housewives, students, or retired but screw them too.

Your right, lets just cut off all aid to Katrina victims and have the national guard administer beat downs to all of them. I think all the self-righteous folks here could really get behind a cause like that.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
The root of the problem, right there.

They are due nothing. They were due nothing before the storm hit. They thought they were, but they weren't.

Get off your ass, get a job, and then I'll be glad to help you with the rest. You don't work, you don't eat. *barring legitimate disability, please note
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flavio said:
Yes, let's all band together and cut off all support for victims of one of the worst disasters in US history! If 27% were unemployed let's just say "screw you" to the entire 100% right?

You think the entire 27% of unemployed had absolutely nothing to start with? I would think they had something. It might even seem plausible that some portion of the 27% could be housewives, students, or retired but screw them too.

Your right, lets just cut off all aid to Katrina victims and have the national guard administer beat downs to all of them. I think all the self-righteous folks here could really get behind a cause like that.
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First post in how many months?


And who said anything abut cutting off aid to everyone? I'd be more than satisfied to cut off that 27% and leave it at that.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
The root of the problem, right there.

They are due nothing. They were due nothing before the storm hit. They thought they were, but they weren't.

Get off your ass, get a job, and then I'll be glad to help you with the rest. You don't work, you don't eat. *barring legitimate disability, please note
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so they had places to live before, and food to eat, and a life, now they should live in a ditch, or just die...nice.
 
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