Deaths of Out-of-State Evacuees Raise Katrina Toll
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Saturday, May 20, 2006
NEW ORLEANS, May 19 -- Louisiana raised its Hurricane Katrina death toll by 281 Friday to 1,577 after including more out-of-state evacuees whose deaths were deemed related to the storm or its grueling aftermath.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals decided that if residents' deaths were hastened by stress and trauma associated with relocating -- or even accidental injury during travel -- those deaths should be counted in the toll.
"Katrina was a tragedy like no other, and the human toll of the tragedy extends further than our traditional definition of a storm-related death," said Louis Cataldie, medical incident commander for Louisiana.
Louisiana officials asked other states to classify evacuees' deaths as storm-related if they occurred between Aug. 27 -- two days before the storm hit -- and Oct. 1, and met several general requirements.
Health officials said much of what Katrina evacuees endured could have had lingering health effects: suffering in hot rooms when power had been out, being stranded for days awaiting rescue, getting stuck in traffic during an hours-long evacuation, and the stress of personal losses and the widespread devastation.
Of the total deaths reported out of state, 223 occurred among those who had fled to Texas. Mississippi has reported 63, Alabama 48, Florida 30, Tennessee 24 and Arkansas 20. Twenty-four other states, including Rhode Island and Montana, and the District of Columbia also reported at least one Katrina-related death.
