September 3, 2008 8:01PM

New Orleans by the Numbers

By Alexis Glick

In the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, insured losses are expected to reach $10 billion. In comparison, Katrina caused a record $41.1 billion of insured losses in 2005. It was the costliest storm in U.S. history.

Up until I returned to New York and started to do some homework, I had no idea that Louisiana had actually done remarkably well, financially speaking, since Katrina. Look at some of these statistics:

- Lousiana has seen a tax windfall due to record-high energy prices as a result of the oil and gas industry, resulting in a $1 billion dollar budget surplus in 2007 and similar projections for 2008.

- Lousiana has received $25 billion in federal aid post-Katrina, and still has $15 billion of the $25 billion in federal coffers waiting to be used to continue the rebuilding effort. Note the cost of the re-engineering of the levees alone has been estimated to cost the city north of $14 billion through 2011.

- The tax base in the city of New Orleans has been depleted, as only 70% of the people who lived in New Orleans pre-Katrina returned; but many relocated within the state and, as a result, the funds have had what’s known as a multiplier effect, with the state earning city and state tax revenue from employees and corporations that relocated.

This morning, I got the chance to speak with Michael Aneiro, a reporter from Dow Jones Newswires, and Dr. Peter Dailey, director of atmospheric science at AIR Worldwide, a company that offers tools for insurance companies to measure damage. They came on to discuss the health and well-being of New Orleans municipal bonds and how this hurricane and past hurricanes have raised some premiums for corporations and businesses in the area by as much as fivefold since Katrina. Hard to believe.

Take a look.