U.S. Census Bureau Issues Facts for Features Special Edition: 2008 Hurricane Season...

U.S. Census Bureau Issues Facts for Features Special Edition: 2008 Hurricane Season Begins

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
The north Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and lasts
through November. The U.S. Census Bureau produces timely local data
that are critical to emergency planning, preparedness and recovery
efforts. This edition of Facts for Features spotlights the number of
people living in areas that could be most affected by these acts of
nature.

In Harm's Way

35.3 million

Estimated July 1, 2007, population most threatened by Atlantic
hurricanes: the coastal portion of the states stretching from North
Carolina to Texas. Twelve percent of the nation's population lived in
these areas.

Source: Population Estimates
(http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php)

10.2 million

The 1950 coastal population of the states stretching from North
Carolina to Texas. Seven percent of the nation's population lived in
these areas.

Source: 1950 Decennial Census
(http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts.html)

25.1 million

Number of people added to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal areas from
North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2007. Florida alone was
responsible for the bulk of this increase (just over 15 million).

Sources: Population Estimates
(http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php) and 1950 Decennial Census
(http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts.html)

247%

Percentage growth of the coastal population of the states
stretching from North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2007.

Sources: Population Estimates
(http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php) and 1950 Decennial Census
(http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts.html)

180,155

Collective land area, in square miles, of the coastal areas from
North Carolina to Texas.

Source: (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html)

3

The number of the 20 most populous metro areas from 2006 to 2007
that were within Atlantic or Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to
Texas. These areas are Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas (sixth);
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. (seventh), and Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (19th).

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/
011671.html)

3

The number of the 10 fastest growing metro areas in 2007 that were
within Atlantic or Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas.
These were Palm Coast, Fla. (first), Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle
Beach, S.C. (sixth), New Orleans-Metarie-Kenner, La. (eighth).

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08-49tabl
e2.xls)

6

The number of hurricanes during the 2007 Atlantic hurricane
season.

Source: (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2007atlan.shtml)

Arthur

The name of the first Atlantic storm of 2008. The second
Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean storm will be named Bertha.

Source:
(http://www.srh.weather.gov/tropicalwx/awareness/tc101.htm)

About 50 to 100

Number of people killed by hurricanes striking the U.S. coastline
in an average three-year period.

Source: (http://www.noaa.gov)

Florida

17.8 million

Estimated 2007 coastal population of Florida, accounting for half
of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina
(coastal population 2.1 million) to Texas (coastal population 7.9
million). Among the Sunshine State's coastal population, 10.6 million
lived along the Atlantic and 7.2 million along the Gulf.

Source: Population Estimates
(http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php)

0.8%

Percentage growth of Florida's coastal population between 2006 and
2007.

Source: Population Estimates
(http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php)

354 people per square mile

The 2007 population density of Florida's coastal areas. The
Sunshine State leads the entire area between North Carolina and Texas
in coastal population density.

Sources: (http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html)
and (http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php)

Hurricanes Past

1950

The year the Weather Bureau officially began naming hurricanes.

Source: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/J6.html

452,170

Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2005 -- about two
months before Hurricane Katrina struck.

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/
009756.html)

239,124

Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2007 -- two years
after Hurricane Katrina struck. The parish's population increased 13.8
percent from a year earlier when it was 210,198.

Source:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08-47table
1.xls

342,973

Population of Charleston County, S.C., in 2007. The county was
devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when its population was 295,000,
but has rebounded nicely since.

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/
011635.html)

29,431

The population of Homestead, Fla., near the point of landfall of
Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In 2006, the population of Homestead was
53,767.

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1990s/su-99-07/SU-99-7_FL.txt)
and (http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-12.xls)

38,000

Population of Galveston, Texas, at the time of the city's "Great
Storm" on Sept. 8, 1900, that killed more than 8,000 people. At that
time, Galveston, Dallas and Houston had similar populations. In 2006,
the population of Galveston was 57,523, nowhere near that of Dallas
(1,232,940) and Houston (2,144,491).

Source: http://www.census.gov/population/www/techpap.html and
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/0
10315.html.

Note: Coastal counties include those with at least 15 percent of
their total land area within the nation's coastal watershed.

Source:
(http://www.census.gov/geo/landview/lv6help/coastal_cty.pdf)

"Special Editions" of the U.S. Census Bureau's Facts for Features
are issued to provide background information for lesser-known
observances, anniversaries of historic events and other timely topics
in the news.

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of
sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources
of error. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census
Bureau's Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax:
301-763-3762; or e-mail: (pio@census.gov).

Long URLs in this release may need to be copied/pasted into your
Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one
exists.

U.S. Census Bureau
Public Information Office
301-763-3030
Fax: 301-763-3762
pio@census.gov

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