Katrina Death Toll Climbs to 1,271

The unofficial death toll for Hurricane Katrina climbed to 1,271 on Tuesday, October 4, as eight more bodies were found in Louisiana, raising the total there to 972. The eight bodies in Louisiana were found one day after FEMA declared the search for the dead in Louisiana to be officially over and issued a "final" death toll. Snort. Isn't it odd that after they call off the search and issue a final toll, more bodies keep turning up?

Louisiana:   Tues. October 4:    972
Mississippi: Tues. October 4:    221
Florida:     Wed., September 28: 14
Alabama:     Wed., September 28: 2
Georgia:     Fri., September 23: 2
Ohio1:       Fri., September 23: 2
Kentucky2:   Fri., September 23: 1
Evacuees3:   Tues. October 4:    57
Total:                           1,271

Footnoted totals are controversial. Explanations for controversial totals follows:

¹The Ohio victims are Cassondra Ground, 19, of Monroeville, Ohio and Thelma Niedzinski, 84, of Norwalk, Ohio. Both were killed in a car accident near Monroeville, Ohio on August 30, 2005. The Ohio State Highway Patrol felt that a wet road caused by Hurricane Katrina caused the car accident. See Ohioans Focus on Helping Katrina Victims, by Jay Cohen, Associated Press , August 31, 2005

²The Kentucky victim was Deanna Petsch, 10, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. On August 29, 2005, she fell into a Hurricane Katrina-swollen ditch in Hopkinsville and drowned. See Storm Surge: State Gets Soaked, City Avoids Major Flooding, Homes, Life Lost in Hopkinsville , Sheldon S. Shafer and James Malone, The Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal, August 31, 2005

³53 of the 57 hurricane evacuee deaths occurred in Texas after evacuating the storm; the total includes two suicides in Texas. Two more evacuees died in Tennessee. Two other evacuees died in an unknown location.

I consider all of these deaths to be storm-related, and it is my understanding that authorities felt they were hurricane-related also. The evacuees section is particularly controversial.

Critics have suggested that the evacuee death toll of 57 deaths is simply a normal death toll for the huge number of evacuees. Yet the figure of 57 dead is far lower than the number of evacuees who died after the storm - a very large number of evacuees died post-Katrina, but the vast majority of them are not included in this tally.

For example, this tally mostly includes evacuees in Texas, omitting the huge number of evacuees from Louisiana, for whom a dubious zero deaths are recorded. Furthermore, evacuees in very poor health or on the verge of death post-Katrina never even made it to Texas; they were evacuated to hospitals, often via airplane.

It is my understanding that officials consider the 57 deaths (mostly in Texas) that occurred very soon after the hurricane to be hurricane-related. Apparently most of the deaths were exacerbated by the stress of the hurricane. The two suicides in Texas have also been questioned.

However, they both occurred very rapidly after the storm and I understand that they are considered to be hurricane-related. There have been many more suicides post-Katrina that are not yet included in this tally.

This section needs further research. Critics with valid data helping to clarify the evacuee death toll are encouraged to email me at the email address at the top right of this page. See 57 Evacuees Reported Dead; At Least 2 Committed Suicide, Steve Quinn, Associated Press, September 15, 2005.

Only 61 of the 972 dead in Louisiana have been identified. In Mississippi, 196 of the 221 dead have been identified. 2000 children are still missing in the disaster, and a list of them can be found here (Excel viewer or Excel required). A page of their photos can be found here. In addition, around 3,600 adults are still missing, according to this list. So the total missing from Katrina is around 5,600 people.