In addition to the total cost of destruction, according to the Insurance Information Institute, insurance companies have paid an estimated $41.1 billion on 1.7 million different claims for damage to vehicles, homes and businesses as well, with sixty-three percent of these claims coming from Louisiana and thirty-three percent occurring in Mississippi. This does not even include flood insurance payments, which FEMA states that The National Flood Insurance Program paid out $16.1 billion in claims, with 13 billion of that going towards Louisiana. Furthermore, in Louisiana alone there were 1,577 fatalities and a total of 1,833 deaths racked up from the storm, and the list goes on. Without a doubt, just by looking at the statistics it is evident that the impact of Katrina was absolutely devastating to the city. .
When observing the statistics of the aftermath of the storm, it is upsetting that a good portion of the loss could have been prevented with better preparation. The most displeasing statistic is obviously the death toll. The fact that close to two thousand people died from a storm is atrocious, especially with resources available in the United States. While Katrina's consequences were by no means inevitable, officials should have been able to alleviate the storm's worst effects. One of the key factors leading to the high number of casualties after the storm was definitely the lack of awareness. For many locals of New Orleans, such as Douglas P. deSilvey, it was "just another storm.," and he surely was not alone. In fact, in the PBS documentary on Katrina, NOVA: Storm that Drowned a City, Bill Gomillion, a local weather forecaster, states "[i]t's just something I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever see . . . Who would have ever thought 100,000 people . . . would stay for a Category 5 hurricane?" pondered Gomillion. Although Ray Nagin (former Mayor of New Orleans) ordered a mandatory evacuation, it is evident the local officials did not emphasize the severity of the storm to the people of New Orleans, including Zeitoun who was one of many with the mindset that it was "just another storm"(Eggers).
