Hurricane Katrina: Brookings Assessments

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Emeril Lagasse may be in the process of reopening his rest aurants (see previous article), but this morning, the Brookings Institute in Washington, DC, published an online package of reports about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which show that only 31% of metropolitan restaurants in New Orleans have reopened (see p. 39 of "The Katrina Index"). This percentage worked from a base of 100% restaurants open on August 5, 2005, and reported up to December 5, 2005 -- or more than 90 days after Katrina hit -- based on statistics from the Louisiana Restaurant Association. "Fast-food chains may be passing out signing bonuses, but the metropolitan area has still lost more than 220,000 jobs," The New York Times said. The Brookings report "The Katrina Index" and a number of other related reports, forecasts, and newspaper articles are all available online (click here). The Katrina Index will be published monthly for the next 12 months. Super chefs: Emeril Lagasse Related news: Times-Picayune New York Times Previous articles: Emeril Re-Opens in New Orleans [complete Hurricane Katrina coverage] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Katrina --> back to superchefblog