2008 Hurricane Season Begins

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 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 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 www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php and 1950 Decennial Census 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 www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php and 1950 Decennial Census 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: 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: 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: www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08-49table2.xls 6: The number of hurricanes during the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. Source: 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: 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: 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 www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php 0.8%: Percentage growth of Florida's coastal population between 2006 and 2007. Source: Population Estimates 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: www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html and www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php Hurricanes Past 1950: The year the Weather Bureau officially began naming hurricanes. Source: 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: 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: www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08-47table1.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: 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: www.census.gov/popest/archives/1990s/su-99-07/SU-99-7_FL.txt and 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: www.census.gov/population/www/techpap.html and www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/010315.html Note: Coastal counties include those with at least 15 percent of their total land area within the nation's coastal watershed. Source: www.census.gov/geo/landview/lv6help/coastal_cty.pdf