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Measure of America is a non-partisan, non-profit initiative of the Social Science Research Council in Brooklyn , New York . It conducts research and analysis primarily on human development data from the United States at the national, state, and county levels.

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113-552: Measure of America aims to stimulate fact-based dialogue about human development issues in the United States by "breathing life into numbers, and using data to create compelling narratives that foster greater understanding of our shared challenges and greater support for people-centered policies." Measure of America's seminal work is the American Human Development Index . Its U.S. specific index

226-550: A bottleneck at the Rigolets Pass, forcing it farther inland. The range of surge levels in eastern St. Tammany Parish is estimated at 13–16 feet (4.0–4.9 m), not including wave action. Hard-hit St. Bernard Parish was flooded because of breaching of the levees that contained a navigation channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) and the breach of the 40 Arpent canal levee that

339-576: A country's development status. They conclude that 11%, 21% and 34% of all countries can be interpreted as currently misclassified in the development bins due to the three sources of data error, respectively. Wolff, Chong and Auffhammer suggest that the United Nations should discontinue the practice of classifying countries into development bins because the cut-off values seem arbitrary, and the classifications can provide incentives for strategic behavior in reporting official statistics, as well as having

452-622: A hurricane. After briefly weakening to tropical storm strength over southern Florida, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and rapidly intensified . The storm strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before weakening to a high-end Category 3 hurricane at its second landfall on August 29 over southeast Louisiana and Mississippi . The largest loss of life in Hurricane Katrina

565-660: A mandatory evacuation was ordered for vulnerable housing in Martin County . Shelters were opened across the region. Officials closed the Miami International Airport , Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport , Key West International Airport , and Florida Keys Marathon Airport due to the storm. In Monroe and Collier counties, schools were closed, and a shelter was opened in Immokalee . On August 28, Alabama Governor Bob Riley declared

678-436: A massive national and international response effort, including federal, local, and private rescue operations to evacuate those displaced from the city in the following weeks. After the storm, multiple investigations concluded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which had designed and built the region's levees decades earlier, was responsible for the failure of the flood-control systems. However, federal courts later ruled that

791-518: A news conference at 10 am. EDT on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin ordered the first-ever mandatory evacuation of the city, calling Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared". The city government also established several "refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive Louisiana Superdome , which sheltered approximately 26,000 people and provided them with food and water for several days as

904-530: A number of grounds, including focusing exclusively on national performance and ranking, lack of attention to development from a global perspective, measurement error of the underlying statistics, and on the UNDP's changes in formula which can lead to severe misclassification of "low", "medium", "high" or "very high" human development countries. There have also been various criticism towards the lack of consideration regarding sustainability (which later got addressed by

1017-522: A peninsula between the Back Bay and the coast, was particularly hard hit, especially the low-lying Point Cadet area. In Jackson County, storm surge flowed up the wide river estuary , with the combined surge and freshwater flooding cutting the county in half. Remarkably, over 90% of Pascagoula, the easternmost coastal city in Mississippi, and about 75 miles (120 km) east of Katrina's landfall near

1130-478: A result of Hurricane Katrina and two people died in a traffic accident in the state. Residents in some areas, such as Selma, were without power for several days. Northern and central Georgia were affected by heavy rains and strong winds from Hurricane Katrina as the storm moved inland, with more than 3 inches (76 mm) of rain falling in several areas. At least 18 tornadoes formed in Georgia on August 29, 2005,

1243-497: A result of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina's storm surge inundated all parishes surrounding Lake Pontchartrain, including St. Tammany , Tangipahoa, St. John the Baptist , and St. Charles Parishes. St. Tammany Parish received a two-part storm surge. The first surge came as Lake Pontchartrain rose and the storm blew water from the Gulf of Mexico into the lake. The second came as the eye of Katrina passed, westerly winds pushed water into

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1356-415: A state of emergency for the approaching Hurricane Katrina. On the same day, he requested President Bush to declare "expedited major disaster declaration" for six counties of South Alabama, which was quickly approved. Three hundred fifty national guardsmen were called on duty by August 30. The state of Mississippi activated its National Guard on August 26 in preparation for the storm's landfall. Additionally,

1469-511: A state of emergency in selected regions of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on August 27. "On Sunday, August 28, President Bush spoke with Governor Blanco to encourage her to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans." However, during the testimony by former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Michael Brown before a U.S. House subcommittee on September 26, Representative Stephen Buyer (R-IN) inquired as to why Bush's declaration of state of emergency of August 27 had not included

1582-630: A strong Category 3 hurricane. Although the storm surge to the east of the path of the eye in Mississippi was higher, a significant surge affected the Louisiana coast. The height of the surge is uncertain because of a lack of data, although a tide gauge in Plaquemines Parish indicated a storm tide in excess of 14 feet (4.3 m), and a 12-foot (3.7 m) storm surge was recorded in Grand Isle . The hurricane made its final landfall near

1695-808: Is a complex, high-stakes process that New York City eighth graders must navigate every year in order to gain admission to high school. The original research informed a New York Times feature story that asked and answered important questions about school choice and how to ensure every student has access to the best education the city has to offer. Key findings from the brief include: This is the second Measure of America report on on-time high school graduation in NYC. The first report, High School Graduation in New York City: Is Neighborhood Still Destiny? (2016), analyzed on-time high school graduation rates for high school students not by

1808-543: Is a complicated exercise, and updated estimates have not been released for over a decade. Highway to Health was released as a health-focused preview to A Portrait of Los Angeles County. Key findings from the brief include: Who Graduates? uses a dataset obtained by special agreement from the NYC Department of Education to look at high school graduation through the lens of types of high school programs students are admitted to. The mandatory high school choice system

1921-500: Is almost impossible to determine the exact cause of some of the fatalities. A 2008 report by the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal indicates that 966 deaths can be directly attributed to the storm in Louisiana, including out of state evacuees, and another 20 indirectly (such as firearm-related deaths and gas poisoning). Due to uncertain causes of death with 454 evacuees, an upper-bound of 1,440

2034-403: Is an accepted version of this page The Human Development Index ( HDI ) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy , education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system ), and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development . A country scores a higher level of HDI when

2147-459: Is based on human development concepts introduced by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen . In partnership with foundations, non-profit organizations, government offices, and corporations, Measure of America has produced reports, interactive tools, and services focused on data analysis and data visualization . The American Human Development Report is a biennial report on human well-being in the United States produced by Measure of America. It follows

2260-412: Is considered central — someone choosing to be hungry (e.g. when fasting for religious reasons ) is considered different from someone who is hungry because they cannot afford to buy food, or because the country is going through a famine . The index does not take into account several factors, such as the net wealth per capita or the relative quality of goods in a country. This situation tends to lower

2373-626: Is noted in the paper. A follow-up study by the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals determined that the storm was directly responsible for 1,170 fatalities in Louisiana. Federal disaster declarations covered 90,000 square miles (230,000 km ) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated three million people without electricity. On September 3, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described

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2486-666: Is the year when the report was published. The HDI has extended its geographical coverage: David Hastings, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific , published a report geographically extending the HDI to 230+ economies, whereas the UNDP HDI for 2009 enumerates 182 economies and coverage for the 2010 HDI dropped to 169 countries. The Human Development Index has been criticized on

2599-521: The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season . It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States , gauged by barometric pressure. Katrina formed on August 23, 2005, with the merger of a tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten . Early the following day, the depression intensified into a tropical storm and headed generally westward toward Florida. On August 25, two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach , it strengthened into

2712-539: The Lesser Antilles . On August 23, the disturbance organized into Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas. The storm strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24. The tropical storm moved towards Florida and became a hurricane only two hours before making landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering

2825-504: The Loop Current , from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. After attaining Category 5 hurricane status on the morning of August 28, Katrina reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC , with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 902  mbar (26.6  inHg ). The pressure measurement made Katrina the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at

2938-701: The Miami metropolitan area , with a peak total of 16.43 in (417 mm) in Perrine . As a result, local flooding occurred in Miami-Dade County , damaging approximately 100 homes. Farther south in the Florida Keys, a tornado was spawned in Marathon on August 26. The tornado damaged a hangar at the airport there and caused an estimated $ 5 million in damage. The rains caused flooding, and

3051-540: The United States Coast Guard (USCG), National Hurricane Center (NHC), and National Weather Service (NWS), were commended for their actions, with the NHC being particularly praised for its accurate forecasts well in advance. Katrina was the earliest 11th named storm on record before being surpassed by Tropical Storm Kyle on August 14, 2020. The destruction and loss of life caused by the storm prompted

3164-549: The federally built levee system protecting metro New Orleans and the failure of the 40 Arpent Canal levee. Failures occurred in New Orleans and surrounding communities, especially St. Bernard Parish. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) breached its levees in approximately 20 places, flooding much of eastern New Orleans, most of St. Bernard Parish and the East Bank of Plaquemines Parish . The major levee breaches in

3277-530: The lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the gross national income GNI (PPP) per capita is higher. It was developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul-Haq and was further used to measure a country's development by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Human Development Report Office. The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI). While

3390-481: The lowest and highest values the variable x {\displaystyle x} can attain, respectively. The Human Development Index (HDI) then represents the uniformly weighted sum with 1 ⁄ 3 contributed by each of the following factor indices: The Human Development Report 2023/24 by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 13 March 2024; the report calculates HDI values based on data collected in 2022. Ranked from 1 to 69 in

3503-488: The planetary pressures-adjusted HDI ), social inequality (which got addressed by the inequality-adjusted HDI ), unemployment or democracy . Economists Hendrik Wolff, Howard Chong and Maximilian Auffhammer discuss the HDI from the perspective of data error in the underlying health, education and income statistics used to construct the HDI. They have identified three sources of data error which are: (i) data updating, (ii) formula revisions and (iii) thresholds to classify

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3616-1222: The 2010 Human Development Report calculated the HDI combining three dimensions: In its 2010 Human Development Report, the UNDP began using a new method of calculating the HDI. The following three indices are used: 1. Life Expectancy Index (LEI) = LE − 20 85 − 20 = LE − 20 65 {\displaystyle ={\frac {{\textrm {LE}}-20}{85-20}}={\frac {{\textrm {LE}}-20}{65}}} 2. Education Index (EI) = MYSI + EYSI 2 {\displaystyle ={\frac {{\textrm {MYSI}}+{\textrm {EYSI}}}{2}}} 3. Income Index (II) = ln ⁡ ( GNIpc ) − ln ⁡ ( 100 ) ln ⁡ ( 75 , 000 ) − ln ⁡ ( 100 ) = ln ⁡ ( GNIpc ) − ln ⁡ ( 100 ) ln ⁡ ( 750 ) {\displaystyle ={\frac {\ln({\textrm {GNIpc}})-\ln(100)}{\ln(75,000)-\ln(100)}}={\frac {\ln({\textrm {GNIpc}})-\ln(100)}{\ln(750)}}} Finally,

3729-657: The Bay St. Louis–Pass Christian bridge, and the Biloxi– Ocean Springs bridge. In addition, the eastbound span of the I-10 bridge over the Pascagoula River estuary was damaged. In the weeks after the storm, with the connectivity of the coastal U.S. Highway 90 shattered, traffic traveling parallel to the coast was reduced first to State Road 11 (parallel to I-10) then to two lanes on the remaining I-10 span when it

3842-636: The Cochrane Bridge just outside Mobile. No significant damage resulted to the bridge and it was soon reopened. The damage on Dauphin Island was severe, with the surge destroying many houses and cutting a new canal through the western portion of the island. An offshore oil rig also became grounded on the island. As in Mississippi, the storm surge caused significant beach erosion along the Alabama coastline. More than 600,000 people lost power in Alabama as

3955-714: The Corps could not be held financially liable due to sovereign immunity in the Flood Control Act of 1928 . The emergency response from federal, state, and local governments was widely criticized, leading to the resignation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael D. Brown and New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Eddie Compass . Many other government officials faced criticism for their responses, especially New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin , Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco , and President George W. Bush . However, several agencies, such as

4068-576: The Gulf Coast had been shut down, including all freight and Amtrak rail traffic into the evacuation areas as well as the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station . Since Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak's Sunset Limited service has never been restored past New Orleans. In Louisiana, the state's hurricane evacuation plan calls for local governments in areas along and near the coast to evacuate in three phases, starting with

4181-597: The Gulf Coast were covered under a voluntary or mandatory evacuation order. On the afternoon of August 26, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) realized that Katrina had yet to make the turn toward the Florida Panhandle and ended up revising the predicted track of the storm from the panhandle to the Mississippi coast. The National Weather Service's New Orleans/Baton Rouge office issued a vividly worded bulletin on August 28 predicting that

4294-469: The Gulf of Mexico, and it continued strengthening over open waters. On August 27, the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale , becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification but caused the storm to nearly double in size. Thereafter, Katrina rapidly intensified over the "unusually warm" waters of

4407-522: The HDI is the geometric mean of the previous three normalized indices: LE: Life expectancy at birth MYS: Mean years of schooling (i.e. years that a person aged 25 or older has spent in formal education) EYS: Expected years of schooling (i.e. total expected years of schooling for children under 18 years of age, incl. young men and women aged 13–17) GNIpc: Gross national income at purchasing power parity per capita The HDI combined three dimensions last used in its 2009 report: This methodology

4520-827: The I-10 Twin Span Bridge traveling eastbound towards Slidell, Louisiana had collapsed. Both the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and the Crescent City Connection only carried emergency traffic. However, access to downtown New Orleans and the "shelter of last resort" at the Convention Center was never closed because River Road in Jefferson Parish and Leake Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans were not flooded, and would have allowed access throughout

4633-640: The Louisiana-Mississippi border was flooded from storm surge at the height of the storm. Other large Jackson County neighborhoods such as Porteaux Bay and Gulf Hills were severely damaged with large portions being completely destroyed, and St. Martin was hard hit; Ocean Springs, Moss Point , Gautier and Escatawpa also suffered major surge damage. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials also recorded deaths in Forrest , Hinds , Warren , and Leake counties. Over 900,000 people throughout

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4746-799: The Miami area. Cruise ships altered their paths due to seaports in southeastern Florida closing. Officials in Miami-Dade County advised residents in mobile homes or with special needs to evacuate. To the north in Broward County, residents east of the Intracoastal Waterway or in mobile homes were advised to leave their homes. Evacuation orders were issued for offshore islands in Palm Beach County , and for residents in mobile homes south of Lantana Road. Additionally,

4859-584: The New Orleans region prior to the mandatory evacuation. Aircrews from the Aviation Training Center, in Mobile, staged rescue aircraft from Texas to Florida. All aircraft were returning towards the Gulf of Mexico by the afternoon of August 29. Aircrews , many of whom lost their homes during the hurricane, began a round-the-clock rescue effort in New Orleans, and along the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines. President George W. Bush declared

4972-583: The Superdome, only six deaths were confirmed there, with four of these originating from natural causes , one from a drug overdose, and one a suicide. At the Convention Center, four bodies were recovered. One of the four is believed to be the result of a homicide. There is evidence that many prisoners were abandoned in their cells during the storm, while the guards sought shelter. Hundreds of prisoners were later registered as "unaccounted for". The Gulf coast of Mississippi suffered extremely severe damage from

5085-514: The U.S. Census Bureau. Following in the mold of state-level reports on Mississippi and Louisiana, the report makes extensive use of Census Bureau-designated Public Use Microdata Areas (referred to as "neighborhood and county groups"), in order to highlight disparities in well-being at the local level. Preliminary findings provide evidence that some groups in California experience some of the highest levels of well-being and access to opportunity in

5198-526: The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, in St. Bernard Parish, 81% (20,229) of the housing units were damaged. In St. Tammany Parish, 70% (48,792) were damaged and in Plaquemines Parish 80% (7,212) were damaged. In addition, the combined effect of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was the destruction of an estimated 562 square kilometres (217 sq mi) of coastal wetlands in Louisiana. As

5311-614: The United States. The death toll from Katrina is uncertain, with reports differing by hundreds. According to the National Hurricane Center, 1,836 fatalities can be attributed to the storm: one in Kentucky , two each in Alabama, Georgia , and Ohio , 14 in Florida, 238 in Mississippi, and 1,577 in Louisiana. However, 135 people remain categorized as missing in Louisiana, and many of the deaths are indirect, but it

5424-499: The Wolff et al. paper. The Human Development Report Office states that they undertook a systematic revision of the methods used for the calculation of the HDI, and that the new methodology directly addresses the critique by Wolff et al. in that it generates a system for continuously updating the human-development categories whenever formula or data revisions take place. In 2013, Salvatore Monni and Alessandro Spaventa emphasized that in

5537-518: The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans. Even in 2010, debris remained in some coastal communities. Before striking South Florida, Katrina traversed the Bahamas as a tropical storm. However, minimal impact was reported, with only "fresh breezes" on various islands. Although Hurricane Katrina stayed well to

5650-463: The airport on September 13 and regular carrier operations resumed in early October. Levee breaches in New Orleans also caused a significant number of deaths, with over 700 bodies recovered in New Orleans by October 23, 2005. Some survivors and evacuees reported seeing dead bodies lying in city streets and floating in still-flooded sections, especially in the east of the city. The advanced state of decomposition of many corpses, some of which were left in

5763-463: The area would be "uninhabitable for weeks" after "devastating damage" caused by Katrina, which at that time rivaled the intensity of Hurricane Camille . During video conferences involving the president later that day and on August 29, NHC director Max Mayfield expressed concern that Katrina might push its storm surge over the city's levees and flood walls. In one conference, he stated, "I do not think anyone can tell you with confidence right now whether

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5876-622: The bottom of the American Human Development Index and has gained attention in recent years in the wake of Hurricane Katrina . On September 17, 2009, Measure of America released A Portrait of Louisiana: Louisiana Human Development Report 2009 , the first major research effort into health, education, and income in the state to use post-Katrina data. Among the findings, the report concludes that acute human vulnerability persists, as do profound disparities between certain groups, especially between blacks and whites. The report

5989-541: The center and the storm's central pressure was 920 mbar (27 inHg). After moving over southeastern Louisiana and Breton Sound , it made its third and final landfall near the Louisiana–Mississippi border with 120 mph (190 km/h) sustained winds, still at a mid-range Category 3 hurricane intensity. Katrina maintained strength well into Mississippi, finally losing hurricane strength more than 150 miles (240 km) inland near Meridian, Mississippi . It

6102-527: The city included breaches at the 17th Street Canal levee, the London Avenue Canal , and the wide, navigable Industrial Canal , which left approximately 80% of the city flooded. Most of the major roads traveling into and out of the city were damaged. The only major intact highway routes out of the city were the westbound Crescent City Connection and the Huey P. Long Bridge, as large portions of

6215-484: The city. A June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers indicated that two-thirds of the flooding was caused by the multiple failures of the city's floodwalls. The storm surge also devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, making Katrina one of the most destructive hurricanes, the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States (tied with Hurricane Harvey in 2017), and

6328-495: The coastal communities of Clermont Harbor and Waveland, much of Bay St. Louis, and flowed up the Jourdan River, flooding Diamondhead and Kiln . In Harrison County, Pass Christian was completely inundated, along with a narrow strip of land to the east along the coast, which includes the cities of Long Beach and Gulfport; the flooding was more extensive in communities such as D'Iberville, which borders Back Bay. Biloxi , on

6441-410: The coastal parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines. The declaration actually did not include any of Louisiana's coastal parishes, whereas the coastal counties were included in the declarations for Mississippi and Alabama . Brown testified that this was because Louisiana Governor Blanco had not included those parishes in her initial request for aid, a decision that he found "shocking". After

6554-483: The combination of rains and winds downed trees and power lines, leaving 1.45 million people without power. Damage in South Florida was estimated at $ 523 million, mostly as a result of crop damage. Twelve deaths occurred in South Florida, of which three were caused by downed trees in Broward County, three from drowning in Miami-Dade County, three were from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators, one

6667-401: The computer models had shifted the potential path of Katrina 150 miles (240 km) westward from the Florida Panhandle, putting the city of New Orleans directly in the center of their track probabilities; the chances of a direct hit were forecast at 17%, with strike probability rising to 29% by August 28. This scenario was considered a potential catastrophe because some parts of New Orleans and

6780-601: The deadliest hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane . The total damage from Katrina is estimated at $ 125 billion (2005 U.S. dollars). However, in February 2021, a severe winter storm struck the United States, causing a major power failure in Houston, which caused at least $ 195 billion (2021 USD) in damage in Texas. It surpassed both Katrina and Harvey to become the single-costliest natural disaster recorded in

6893-451: The debate of GDP versus HDI, it is often forgotten that these are both external indicators that prioritize different benchmarks upon which the quantification of societal welfare can be predicated. The larger question is whether it is possible to shift the focus of policy from a battle between competing paradigms to a mechanism for eliciting information on well-being directly from the population. Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina

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7006-444: The eye of Hurricane Katrina swept to the northeast, it subjected the city to hurricane conditions for hours. Although power failures prevented accurate measurement of wind speeds in New Orleans, there were a few measurements of hurricane-force winds; based on this information, the NHC concluded that much of the city likely experienced sustained winds of Category 1 or 2 hurricane strength. Katrina's storm surge caused 53 levee breaches in

7119-582: The five largest metro areas in the state as well as for eight economic regions and 233 neighborhood and county groups covering the entire state. American HD Index values for each major racial/ethnic group, for women and men, and for both native and foreign-born Californians were calculated using mortality data from the California Department of Public Health and earnings and education data from the American Community Survey of

7232-416: The focus of development economics from national income accounting to people-centered policies ". He believed that a simple composite measure of human development was needed to convince the public, academics and politicians that they can, and should, evaluate development not only by economic advances but also improvements in human well-being . Published on 4 November 2010 (and updated on 10 June 2011),

7345-596: The health, education, and the standard of living of different racial and ethnic groups from state to state; and shines a spotlight on disparities within the ten largest metropolitan areas in the country. The report was funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and The Lincy Foundation, and is a joint publication of the Social Science Research Council and New York University Press. The Measure of America: American Human Development Report, 2008–2009

7458-486: The hearing, Blanco released a copy of her letter, which showed she had requested assistance for "all the southeastern parishes including the City of New Orleans" as well as specifically named 14 parishes, including Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were issued for large areas of southeast Louisiana as well as coastal Mississippi and Alabama. About 1.2 million residents of

7571-494: The hotel's glass exterior was completely sheared off. The Superdome , which was sheltering many people who had not evacuated, sustained significant damage. Two sections of the Superdome's roof were compromised and the dome's waterproof membrane was essentially peeled off. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was closed before the storm but did not flood. On August 30, it was reopened to humanitarian and rescue operations. Limited commercial passenger service resumed at

7684-554: The housing market, allowing financial institutions to engage in discriminatory and predatory lending that accelerated the financial collapse. Commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union and drawing on a unique dataset, this report examines the likely effect of the financial crisis on the racial wealth gap for the next generation. What it uncovers is a tale of two recoveries: among families that owned homes, white households have started to rebound from

7797-809: The human development concept, which is the process of expanding the well-being of individuals to develop their full potential, by increasing opportunities in the arenas of health, education, and income. Similar to the global Human Development Report, published annually by the United Nations Development Programme, and the National Human Development Reports (NHDRs), the American Human Development Reports serve as advocacy tools to spur lively debates and mobilize support for action and change. The Measure of America, 2013–2014

7910-967: The immediate coast 50 hours before the start of tropical-storm-force winds. Persons in areas designated Phase II begin evacuating 40 hours before the onset of tropical storm winds and those in Phase III areas (including New Orleans) evacuate 30 hours before the start of such winds. Many private caregiving facilities that relied on bus companies and ambulance services for evacuation were unable to evacuate their charges because they waited too long. Louisiana's Emergency Operations Plan Supplement 1C (Part II, Section II, Paragraph D) calls for use of school and other public buses in evacuations. Although buses that later flooded were available to transport those dependent on public transportation, not enough bus drivers were available to drive them since Governor Blanco did not sign an emergency waiver to allow any licensed driver to transport evacuees on school buses. By August 26, many of

8023-483: The immediate post-storm emergency period. On August 29, at 7:40 am. CDT, it was reported that most of the windows on the north side of the Hyatt Regency New Orleans had been blown out, and many other high rise buildings had extensive window damage. The Hyatt was the most severely damaged hotel in the city, with beds reported to be flying out of the windows. Insulation tubes were exposed as

8136-441: The impact of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, leaving 238 people dead, 67 missing, and billions of dollars in damage: bridges, barges, boats, piers, houses, and cars were washed inland. Katrina traveled up the entire state; as a result, all 82 counties in Mississippi were declared disaster areas for federal assistance, 47 for full assistance. After making a brief initial landfall in Louisiana, Katrina had made its final landfall near

8249-468: The levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very great concern." In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on August 24 in advance of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. By the following day, Florida's Emergency Operations Center was activated in Tallahassee to monitor the progress of the hurricane. Before Katrina moved ashore, schools and businesses were closed in

8362-789: The lowest (HDI: 3.18), below that of West Virginia, the lowest-ranked state. Rankings are provided for the major racial and ethnic groups, men and women, native- and foreign-born residents, and Marin’s fifty-one census tracts for which there are reliable U.S Census data. Select findings from the report illustrate these disparities: The Marin County report was commissioned by the Marin Community Foundation (MCF). Released May 20, 2014, A Portrait of Sonoma County provides an in-depth look at how residents of Sonoma County are faring in three fundamental areas of life: health, access to knowledge, and living standards. Select findings from

8475-464: The majority of the state. Katrina caused eleven tornadoes in Mississippi on August 29, some of which damaged trees and power lines. Battered by wind, rain and storm surge, some beachfront neighborhoods were completely leveled. Preliminary estimates by Mississippi officials calculated that 90% of the structures within half a mile of the coastline were completely destroyed, and that storm surges traveled as much as 6 miles (10 km) inland in portions of

8588-399: The metro area are below sea level. Since the storm surge produced by the hurricane's right-front quadrant (containing the strongest winds) was forecast to be 28 feet (8.5 m), while the levees offered protection to 23 feet (7.0 m), emergency management officials in New Orleans feared that the storm surge could go over the tops of levees protecting the city, causing major flooding. At

8701-515: The most on record in that state for one day in August. The most serious of these tornadoes was an F2 tornado which affected Heard County and Carroll County . This tornado caused three injuries and one fatality and damaged several houses. The other tornadoes caused significant damages to buildings and agricultural facilities. In addition to the fatality caused by the F2 tornado, there was another fatality in

8814-487: The mouth of the Pearl River , with the eye straddling St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana , and Hancock County, Mississippi , on the morning of August 29 at about 9:45 am. CDT. Hurricane Katrina also brought heavy rain to Louisiana, with 8–10 inches (200–250 mm) falling on a wide swath of the eastern part of the state. In the area around Slidell , the rainfall was even higher, and the highest rainfall recorded in

8927-630: The name Katrina to be retired by the World Meteorological Organization in April 2006. On January 4, 2023, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) updated the Katrina fatality data based on a report by Rappaport (2014) which reduced the number from an estimated 1,833 to 1,392. Hurricane Katrina originated from the merger of a tropical wave and the mid-level remnants of Tropical Depression Ten on August 19, 2005, near

9040-822: The nation—indeed, in the world—while others are facing distressing challenges when it comes to the basic building blocks of opportunity. For instance: The California state report is supported by the California Community Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Draper Foundation, the California Endowment, The Lincy Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, United Way of California, and the Weingart Foundation. Louisiana ranked near

9153-571: The north of Cuba , on August 28 it brought tropical-storm-force winds and rainfall of over 8 in (200 mm) to western regions of the island. Telephone and power lines were damaged and around 8,000 people were evacuated in the Pinar del Río Province . According to Cuban television reports the coastal town of Surgidero de Batabanó was 90% underwater. Hurricane Katrina first made landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida on August 25. The storm dropped heavy rainfall in portions of

9266-634: The northwestern portion of the state, though none of them caused significant damage. Throughout the Florida Panhandle, the storm resulted in an estimated $ 100 million in damage. There were two indirect fatalities from Katrina in Walton County as a result of a traffic accident. In the Florida Panhandle, 77,000 customers lost power. Overall, the hurricane killed 14 people and caused at least $ 623 million in damage. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana , with 125 mph (200 km/h) winds, as

9379-523: The potential to misguide politicians, investors, charity donors and the public who use the HDI at large. In 2010, the UNDP reacted to the criticism by updating the thresholds to classify nations as low, medium, and high human development countries. In a comment to The Economist in early January 2011, the Human Development Report Office responded to an article published in the magazine on 6 January 2011 which discusses

9492-450: The ranking of some of the most developed countries , such as the G7 members and others. The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports produced by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). These annual reports were devised and launched by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul-Haq in 1990, and had the explicit purpose "to shift

9605-521: The report include: The Sonoma County report was commissioned by Sonoma County Department of Health Services (DHS). Highway to Health presents life expectancy calculations for cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County as well as for planning areas and city council districts within the City of Los Angeles. These place-based life expectancy calculations are the most up-to-date figures available; calculating life expectancy by place

9718-409: The schools they attend, but rather by the neighborhoods they call home. In the lead-up to the financial crisis, economic opportunity remained unequal across racial lines, but economic trends suggested that America was on a path toward narrowing the yawning wealth disparities between white and black families. Deeply rooted economic inequality, however, fueled some of the most harmful lending practices in

9831-781: The simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for this inequality ), while the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality." The index is based on the human development approach, developed by Mahbub ul-Haq, anchored in Amartya Sen 's work on human capabilities, and often framed in terms of whether people are able to "be" and "do" desirable things in life. Examples include — being: well-fed, sheltered, and healthy; doing: work, education, voting, participating in community life. The freedom of choice

9944-454: The stage for significant budget savings and improved well-being tomorrow. Some residents of Marin are enjoying extraordinarily high levels of well-being and access to opportunity, while others are experiencing levels of health, education, and standard of living that prevailed in the nation three decades ago. At the top of the rankings is Ross (HDI: 9.70), with the Canal area of San Rafael scoring

10057-457: The state experienced power outages. Although Hurricane Katrina made landfall well to the west, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were both affected by tropical-storm-force winds and a storm surge varying from 12 to 16 feet (3.7–4.9 m) around Mobile Bay , with higher waves on top. Sustained winds of 67 mph (108 km/h) were recorded in Mobile, Alabama , and the storm surge there

10170-479: The state government activated its Emergency Operations Center the next day, and local governments began issuing evacuation orders. By 6:00 p.m. CDT on August 28, 11 counties and cities issued evacuation orders, a number which increased to 41 counties and 61 cities by the following morning. Moreover, 57 emergency shelters were established on coastal communities, with 31 additional shelters available to open if needed. By Sunday, August 28, most infrastructure along

10283-446: The state line, and the eyewall passed over the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). Katrina's powerful right-front quadrant passed over the west and central Mississippi coast, causing a powerful 27-foot (8.2 m) storm surge, which penetrated 6 miles (10 km) inland in many areas and up to 12 miles (19 km) inland along bays and rivers; in some areas,

10396-476: The state was approximately 15 inches (380 mm). As a result of the rainfall and storm surge the level of Lake Pontchartrain rose and caused significant flooding along its northeastern shore, affecting communities from Slidell to Mandeville . Several bridges were destroyed, including the I-10 Twin Span Bridge connecting Slidell to New Orleans. Almost 900,000 people in Louisiana lost power as

10509-515: The state's coast. One apartment complex with approximately thirty residents seeking shelter inside collapsed. More than half of the 13 casinos in the state, which were floated on barges to comply with Mississippi land-based gambling laws, were washed hundreds of yards inland by waves. A number of streets and bridges were washed away. On U.S. Highway 90 along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, two major bridges were completely destroyed:

10622-484: The storm came ashore. Some estimates claimed that 80% of the 1.3 million residents of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area evacuated, leaving behind substantially fewer people than remained in the city during the Hurricane Ivan evacuation. On August 29, 2005, Katrina's storm surge caused 53 breaches to various flood protection structures in and around the greater New Orleans area, submerging 80% of

10735-614: The surge crossed Interstate 10 for several miles. Hurricane Katrina brought strong winds to Mississippi, which caused significant tree damage throughout the state. The highest unofficial reported wind gust recorded from Katrina was one of 135 mph (217 km/h) in Poplarville , in Pearl River County . The storm also brought heavy rains with 8–10 inches (200–250 mm) falling in southwestern Mississippi and rain in excess of 4 inches (100 mm) falling throughout

10848-546: The time, only to be surpassed by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma later in the season; it was also the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico at the time, before Rita broke the record. The hurricane subsequently weakened due to another eyewall replacement cycle, and Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC on August 29, as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (201 km/h), near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana . At landfall, hurricane-force winds extended outward 120 miles (190 km) from

10961-689: The water or sun for days before being collected, hindered efforts by coroners to identify many of the dead. The first deaths reported from the city were reported shortly before midnight on August 28, as three nursing home patients died during an evacuation to Baton Rouge , most likely from dehydration. An estimated 215 bodies were found in nursing homes and hospitals in New Orleans, the largest number being at Memorial Medical Center where 45 corpses were recovered. Some 200 patients at Charity Hospital were not evacuated until Friday, September 2, having been without power or fresh water for five days. While there were also early reports of fatalities amid mayhem at

11074-531: The worst effects of the Great Recession while black households are still struggling to make up lost ground. The racial wealth gap is now on track to compound over time, a trend with urgent implications for the future of racial justice in America, and one that should inform policymaking strategies aimed at guaranteeing fair economic opportunities in the coming years. Human Development Index This

11187-503: The year 2022, the following countries are considered to be of "very high human development": The list below displays the top-ranked country from each year of the Human Development Index. Norway has been ranked the highest sixteen times, Canada eight times, and Switzerland, Japan, and Iceland have each ranked twice. The year represents the time period from which the statistics for the index were derived. In parentheses

11300-470: Was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $ 125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. It is tied with Hurricane Harvey as being the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin . Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of

11413-542: Was approximately 12 feet (3.7 m). The surge caused significant flooding several miles inland along Mobile Bay. Four tornadoes were also reported in Alabama. Ships, oil rigs, boats and fishing piers were washed ashore along Mobile Bay: the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper and many fishing boats were grounded at Bayou La Batre . An oil rig under construction along the Mobile River broke its moorings and floated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwards before striking

11526-456: Was co-authored by Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis. It is the third in the American Human Development Reports series and, like its predecessors, includes updated Index rankings while examining changes in well-being since 2000, as well as before and after the Great Recession. The report provides information for the country as a whole, the 50 U.S. states, the 25 largest metropolitan areas, and racial and ethnic groups within those regions. The report

11639-670: Was commissioned by Oxfam America and the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, with funding from Oxfam America and the Foundation for the Mid South. Mississippi ranked last among U.S. states on the American Human Development Index in 2008–2009. The Mississippi State Conference NAACP commissioned Measure of America to apply the methodology of the national report to the state level. A Portrait of Mississippi: Mississippi Human Development Report 2009

11752-472: Was designed and built by the Orleans Levee Board . The search for the missing was undertaken by the St. Bernard Fire Department because of the assets of the United States Coast Guard being diverted to New Orleans. In the months after the storm, many of the missing were tracked down by searching flooded homes, tracking credit card records, and visiting homes of family and relatives. According to

11865-454: Was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee ; its remnants were absorbed by a cold front in the eastern Great Lakes region on August 31. The resulting extratropical storm moved rapidly to the northeast and affected eastern Canada. The United States Coast Guard began pre-positioning resources in a ring around the expected impact zone and activated more than 400 reservists. On August 27, it moved its personnel out of

11978-544: Was due to a vehicle accident, one occurred during debris cleanup, and one was associated with a lack of electricity. Significant impacts were also reported in the Florida Panhandle . Although Katrina moved ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi, its outer periphery produced a 5.37 ft (1.64 m) storm surge in Pensacola . High waves caused beach erosion and closed nearby roadways. There were five tornadoes in

12091-508: Was due to flooding caused by engineering flaws in the flood protection system, particularly the levees around the city of New Orleans. 80% of the city, as well as large areas in neighboring parishes , were flooded for weeks. The flooding destroyed most of New Orleans's transportation and communication facilities, leaving tens of thousands of people who did or could not evacuate the city before landfall with little access to food, shelter, and other necessities. The disaster in New Orleans prompted

12204-407: Was funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The Measure of America, 2010–2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience was co-authored by Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis, and includes a foreword by Jeffrey Sachs . The second in the American Human Development Reports series, the 2010–2011 edition features updated Index rankings of the 50 states and 435 congressional districts; reveals huge disparities in

12317-433: Was opened. All three coastal counties of the state were severely affected by the storm. Katrina's surge was the most extensive, as well as the highest, in the documented history of the United States; large portions of Hancock , Harrison , and Jackson counties were inundated by the storm surge, in all three cases affecting most of the populated areas. Surge covered almost the entire lower half of Hancock County, destroying

12430-673: Was provided by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Oxfam America, the Social Science Research Council, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Annenberg Foundation. It was jointly published by the Social Science Research Council and Columbia University Press. Released in May 2011, the California report provides an in-depth look at the well-being of people living in the most populous and the most diverse state in America. The report presents Human Development Index values for

12543-651: Was released on January 26, 2009. The report revealed that some groups in the state enjoy well-being levels similar to those in top-ranked Connecticut, while others experience levels of human development typical of the average American nearly a half-century ago. The report contains policy recommendations to address disparities by geography, race, and gender. Released on January 18, 2012, A Portrait of Marin provides an investigation of well-being in Marin County, California , and highlights actions that Marinites can take to lock in human development successes today while setting

12656-477: Was used by the UNDP until their 2011 report. The formula defining the HDI is promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ). In general, to transform a raw variable , say x {\displaystyle x} , into a unit-free index between 0 and 1 (which allows different indices to be added together), the following formula is used: where a {\displaystyle a} and b {\displaystyle b} are

12769-486: Was written, compiled, and edited by Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis, and Eduardo Borges Martins, and includes forewords by Amartya Sen and William H. Draper III . The book is the first-ever human development report for a wealthy, developed nation. It introduced the American HD Index disaggregated by state, by congressional district, by racial/ethnic group, and by gender, creating ranked lists for each. Funding

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