Barrier islands like the Chandeleur Islands are constantly building, eroding, and shifting under the normal actions of wind and waves. A powerful storm like Katrina can produce changes that otherwise may have taken many years, and most of the changes seen here are probably the result of Katrina.
California experienced the largest decline in the number of people experiencing homelessness, 25,034 fewer since 2007. Other states with large declines included Texas (11,293 fewer people), Florida (6,527), New Jersey (5,643), and Oregon (5,426).
There were 3,991 chronically homeless people, making up 30% of the total homeless population.4 Three-fourths of this population was unsheltered and 88% were individuals, not in families. Fourteen percent of all homeless people in Oregon have a serious mental illness and 11% have substance abuse disorder.