Two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. residents of hard hit areas like New Orleans are still carrying the mental burden of the damage and difficulty they experienced. As a result, the percentage of New Orleans residents who exhibit some form of mental illness had doubled to 12 percent from 6 percent in 2005.

The problem is acutely felt among the city's homeless, whose headcount had also grew twice to 12,000 from 6,200, said Sam Scaffidi of the New Orleans Police Homeless Assistance Unit. The bulk of them live under 10 interstate overpasses, now a colony of tents, sleeping boxes and cardboard mats.

Prior to Katrina it was not unusual to encounter 10 mentally ill New Orleans residents each day. Today the number has jumped to 20 daily, Scaffidi said. While the majority are harmless, a few a violent.

Efforts to help and get them off the streets is doubly difficult because of the shortage of facilities to bring them. William Payne, assistant secretary of Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals, admits, "There is significant demand and the demand currently exceeds the capacity to address it... It's clearly a critical situation."

Among the measures being considered by the local government are improving the city's community outreach centers and building more affordable public housing projects. Relief is partly on the way as state health officials announced last week a $90 million plan to revitalize New Orleans mental health facilities, including community-based treatments and housing subsidies.

Over 1.2 million residents were forced to flee their residents due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some are now ready to return home and are availing of a $4,000 relocation expense assistance extended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA, which has helped over 3,000 families move, gave affected New Orleans families until Aug. 31, 2008 to file applications for relocation assistance.