Tracing the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Population of New Orleans: The Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study

The Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study was designed to examine the current location, well-being, and plans of people who lived in the City of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck on 29 August 2005. The study is based on a representative sample of pre-Katrina dwellings in the city. Respondents were administered a short paper-and-pencil interview by mail, by telephone, or in person. The pilot study was fielded in the fall of 2006, approximately one year after Hurricane Katrina. In this paper, we describe the motivation for the pilot study, outline its design, and describe the fieldwork results using a set of fieldwork outcome rates and multivariate logistic models. We end with a discussion of the lessons learned from the pilot study for future studies of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the population of New Orleans. The results point to the challenges and opportunities of studying this unique population.