Louisiana Katrina death toll 1577

[MGC]

From NOLA.COM:

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1148020620117480.xml&coll=1

Add to this number the 200+ from Mississippi and Katrina is responsible for over 1800 dead. I expect that figure to push 2000 when all is said and done.......MGC

[Camille_2_Katrina]

wow... more bad news from the Big Easy...

[sunny]

Because of a continuing rise in reports of out-of-state deaths, Louisiana's official Katrina toll jumped 22 percent on Thursday, to 1,577 deaths, when the Department of Health and Hospitals added 281 more victims to the count. Texas alone accounted for 223 deaths of the increase.


hmmmmmm

[Camille_2_Katrina]

Staggering...

[CrazyC83]

That means the total death toll is likely around 1,900 at this point.

Those 281 deaths are not direct deaths and will not be counted in NHC totals.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I posted this article in my "News from the Central Gulf" thread in Off Topics yesterday. Actully, when you add in well over 300 deaths from the out of state death total, the figure is already over 1900... I've been saying for a long time that it'll be over 2,000 when the final tally is in, making Katrina potentially the second deadliest storm ever to hit the US mainland. (Dead heat with Okeechobee, and Chernier-Caminada, and one other 19th century storm I believe).

A2K

[Audrey2Katrina]

Those 281 deaths are not direct deaths and will not be counted in NHC totals.

Statistics are a strange set of animals; and certainly meaning nothing to be confrontational about the honesty of your post--because it's probably true. But personally, I really could care less if the NHC or any other body would declare them in "their" death toll. The fact is that were it not for Katrina it is entirely possible that at least another 2,000 people would still be around right now.

A2K

[CrazyC83]

Death toll at this point counted at 1,836.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Death toll at this point counted at 1,836.

Whose figures are those? And are they including the 281 above mentioned deaths?

A2K

[CrazyC83]

Death toll at this point counted at 1,836.

Whose figures are those? And are they including the 281 above mentioned deaths?

A2K

That includes that new number + all the other states (238 in MS, 21 in other states not counting evacuees)

[Audrey2Katrina]

That includes that new number + all the other states (238 in MS, 21 in other states not counting evacuees)

Okay, sounds close enough to me; but still nearly 1,000 missing from surrounding areas... again, I doubt the vast majority of these will ever be found.

A2K

[HurricaneBill]

I think the NHC estimated at least 1200 deaths were directly caused by Katrina.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I think the NHC estimated at least 1200 deaths were directly caused by Katrina.

Last I heard they haven't issued "final" numbers yet; but that could have changed. Either way, I consider that number to be grossly underestimated--MHO.

A2K

[JonathanBelles]

wow 1800

[CrazyC83]

My guess is that about 1,200 of the deaths are direct deaths and about 600 are indirect at this point based on the descriptions given. These new deaths are all indirect.

[Audrey2Katrina]

The "new" indirect deaths are around 280, and a month ago I'd seen the "official" death toll at 1603 with very few of them (well under 100) listed as indirect--as numbers were going up with discoveries of new bodies in areas theretofore uncleared literally every day. I've seen death tolls now listed as high as 2,108 and low as 1,836... they're all over the place. And really, in my honest estimation, it is almost ghoulish to worry about if they're this one's "official" or that one's "official" count, or whether they were direct or "indirect". The only thing that can be established is that these people are dead... they are victims of this storm because when it comes down to it, Katrina caused it. I am convinced the so-called "direct" toll is at least the 1600 figure I'd cited earlier, not that such adjuncts mean a thing to me having had a family member who fits in the aforementioned category.

A2K

[MGC]

Katrina directly affected my family, my sons lost an uncle on the father's side....MGC

[LAwxrgal]

Sorry to hear it MGC.

Aunt on mom's side died on September 4, been told she was in New Orleans...either way, the aftermath of Katrina likely sped up her death, it's still up for debate.

[Audrey2Katrina]

There will always be the "questionable" Katrina-attributed deaths--especially among the elderly and chronically ill whose death may have, as you put it, been accelerated by Katrina events. There are however examples I could cite, such as fairly young, healthy, and strong individuals who succumbed within days or the first weeks after the storm consequent to having ingested flood waters awaiting rescue, and passing on later of massive lung infections (In Texas hospitals--I know of at least one of these) that this event brought on. My own cousin was a volunteer FD worker trying to clear a devastated St. Bernard area when his ladder hit an unexpected "hot" electrical wire--killed him instantly. This may be called "indirect" but there is no doubt whatsoever that Katrina caused it.

A2K

[Sean in New Orleans]

Very, very sad. Too many people died in my city from this storm. We hurt so bad, still, from what has happened. But, just as the MS coast is doing...we're doing everything humanly possible to repair, restore, and move forward.