THE main victims of Hurricane Katrina were not black people but older people of all races, according to research showing that almost two thirds of those who died were over 60.

Although the floods that struck New Orleans after the hurricane last August hit mainly African-American neighbourhoods, the disaster was not a disproportionate killer of black people, figures released by the St Gabriel mortuary in the city have suggested. Of 768 bodies examined so far, 64 per cent were those of people over 60. Only one was a child under 5, and among white people none of the confirmed dead was under 40.

“The truly unique signature of Katrina is the selectivity for the oldest members of the population,” said John Mutter, the deputy director of the Earth Institute, at Columbia University, in New York. “People older than 60 died in numbers about three times greater than their representation in the population. Katrina may be the first natural disaster in history to be so selective for the elderly. When it comes to deaths, this was an age-selective disaster far more than it was raceselective.”

Although most evacuees were black, the proportion of white people killed was higher than would be expected from the racial composition of the worst-affected neighbourhoods. The widespread perception that Katrina was a “black” disaster may reflect news pictures of refugees rather than those who died, Dr Mutter said.

“Although often remarked upon, the disaster does not seem to have selected for African-Americans. It seems that these suggestions were based on images of survivors and perhaps it was inappropriately assumed to reflect the racial make-up of victims.”

Dr Mutter, speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in St Louis yesterday, said that although the elderly were always vulnerable in natural disasters, it was highly unusual for them to account for so many deaths. Very young children were also more likely to die in floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, and their near absence from the death toll was surprising.

It may reflect a greater determination to flee the hurricane among families with children, and a reluctance to leave home among older people. “Typically, people tend to abandon the poor and elderly,” he said. “People took their pets, but the elderly were left behind.”

It is estimated that 2,000 people died in the hurricane.

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