Social and Demographic Disparities in Displacement from and Return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Short-Term and Long-Term Findings

Narayan Sastry, University of Michigan
Michael S. Rendall, University of Maryland

We examine the timing of return migration to New Orleans among displaced residents of the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and also examine subsequent moves away from the city among those who initially returned. Our aim is to provide a picture of this dynamic process using new data from 2009–2010 Displaced New Orleans Residents Study (DNORS). We also provide an overview of DNORS and key results regarding the study’s response rate, factors associated with non-response, and weights that correct for non-response. We estimate survival models that focus on two key durations: first, the duration before displaced residents returned to the city and, second, the duration that residents remained in the city before leaving again. Our focus is on disparities in displacement and return by race, by socioeconomic status, and by neighborhood factors such as flood damage. We discuss implications of our findings for policy and future research.