null

Despite Mayor Ray Nagin’s protests, the most recent numbers tend to confirm that less than half of the Pre-K population have returned to New Orleans.

Recently, in testimony before the Joint Lege Budget Committee, we read the following:

Entergy New Orleans spokesman Morgan] Stewart said there are now 65,000 gas customers in Orleans Parish compared to 145,000 before Katrina and 85,000 electricity customers compared to 190,000 before Katrina. Times Picayune, November 18, 2006

That means that 44% of the gas and electric customers are back. Of course that would be on the high side since many customers have gas and power hooked to their houses, but are not living in them.

Thus if one takes 44% of the roughly 450,000 pre-Katrina residents of New Orleans one gets 198,000 residents at most living in the city. A figure much nearer the 187,000 concluded by a recent scientific study than Nagin’s 225,000 to 250,000 inhabitants.

The 44% figure becomes even more relevant considering that the basis for Nagin’s unscientific guesstimate of the population was gas and electrical hook-ups.

Who you gonna believe?

C.B.