Of the total population of approximately 4.6 million in Louisiana, 2.3 million people live in coastal portions of the state.
Coastal Louisiana employs 939,000 people annually, earning almost $46 billion. This equates to over $120 billion in gross domestic product.
Two billion-dollar weather disasters affected Louisiana in 2018—and a total of 16 affected the state between 2010 and 2018. An historic flooding event in August 2016, resulting from 20 to 30 inches of rainfall over several days, devastated a large area of southern Louisiana. More than 30,000 people were rescued from the floodwaters that damaged or destroyed over 50,000 homes, 100,000 vehicles, and 20,000 businesses. Costing $10.7 billion, it was the most damaging U.S. flood event since Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast in 2012.