John Mutter asserts that Hurricane Katrina hit the poor hardest (Nature 466, 1042; 2010). This seems plausible, so it is surprising that his evidence is weak and also consistent with other hypotheses.

Low repopulation of poor districts tells us nothing about the fate of poor people, who may have been glad to use the insurance payouts and federal assistance to leave such areas. It is people, not places, that count.

The fact that poor workers were more likely to lose their pre-Katrina jobs does not reveal their statuses now — job losses may be a natural consequence of inner-city depopulation. Even under normal circumstances, US job turnover is around 5% per month. Turnover is usually several times higher than job destruction (see http://go.nature.com/JXJPtC) and is probably higher for unskilled workers.

Likewise, the 38% reduction in hospital beds after Katrina may not have hurt poor people disproportionately, especially if their neighbourhoods have experienced the 76% depopulation that Mutter cites.