An estimated 1.2 million people living in coastal counties in south Texas, from Port Mansfield (about 42 miles north of Brownsville) to the border with Mexico, live in the anticipated path of Hurricane Emily, the U.S. Census Bureau said today.

The most recent Census Bureau population estimates show that the seven south Texas coastal counties in the hurricane warning area have an overall population density of 153.3 people per square mile, nearly double the national density of 83.0 people per square mile. This approximately 7,560 square mile area, which includes Brooks (population 7,753), Cameron (371,825), Hidalgo (658,248), Jim Wells (40,807), Kenedy (407), Starr (59,832) and Willacy (20,231) counties, had an overall population growth rate of about 11.5 percent from 2000 to 2004. The area has more than tripled its size since 1950, when it had a population of 358,302.

The most populous south Texas cities in the storm’s path, Brownsville and McAllen, had 2004 populations of 161,225 and 120,743, respectively. Current socio-economic data for both metro areas are available from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey at <http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Profiles/Single/2003/ACS/TX.htm>.

About 53 percent of the nation’s total population lives in coastal areas, which account for only 17 percent of the total U.S. land area. The total population of Texas’ 41 coastal counties in 2004 was 7,408,378, or about 33 percent of the state’s entire population.

Based on the National Hurricane Center’s latest storm advisory issued at 1:00 p.m. CDT, the storm is expected to strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane later today, and is projected to make landfall somewhere near the Texas-Mexico border tomorrow morning.

- X -

Note: The above calculations are based on projections of the storm’s path from the National Hurricane Center, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service, and Census Bureau population estimates as of July 1, 2004. These data do not present a full picture of the seasonal population increases of coastal or other tourist areas.