What Progress Is Mississippi Making in Rebuilding Its Affordable Housing Stock After Katrina?
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, inflicting major damage to commercial property, infrastructure, and housing. However, the hurricane’s effects were most pronounced in Mississippi, in the coastal counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. Immediately after the storm, Mississippi’s governor, Haley Barbour, appointed the Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal to determine the extent of the damage and recommend policies to aid the recovery. Following the commission’s report, because there remained a need to understand the full extent of the damage and the specific effects on the U.S. Gulf Coast housing market, the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute — a partnership between the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, and seven Gulf States universities — continued the effort by developing a comprehensive quantitative assessment of both the extent and nature of the damage to the housing stock and the
