Thanks. I grew up using "black," and find "African-American" just too many syllables to use most of the time (living in a place that shortens street names down to Mem Drive and Mass Ave doesn't help, I suppose). Plus, as you point out, that describes some, but not all, people supposedly in the category. (And "people of color" is just problematic. I mean, everyone's some color, which makes it redundant.)

From what I've been reading, more of the poorest people in N.O. were African-Americans, so they were the ones with the least means to get themselves out of the city, and the evacuation plans of the city basically relied on people moving themselves. Not so impressive. Of course, it sounds like there were underfunding problems to deal with, as well. But yeah, basically. (I just tried to find what I'd read before, and am annoyed at myself for not keeping track of it.)

Possibly of interest:
One friend has noted that there are disparities in races, even amongst those who didn't leave.
Another has a lot of suggestions for what to do, but also links about background, as well.