New Orleans: Anatomy of a Social Disaster

Even before hurricane Katrina Sperling’s Best Places ranked New Orleans as the 3rd most stressful place in the US to live. It’s rate of violent crime was nearly 3 times the national average. It’s rate of property crime was about 50% higher than the national average. The rate of unemployment was above the national average and the average household income was barely more than half of the national average.
A good portion of people with greater economic means left the city, leaving the poorest to fend for themselves. Now consider the link between poverty and crime. Another large group of people who were left behind were also some of the most vulnerable to victimization: the sick, the very young, and the very elderly.
When the levees broke, flooding 80% of the city and squeezing the survivors into an increasingly small area. Considering these factors, chaos was not only likey, but probably inevitible.