Population losses for New Orleans and the effect on politics

Last night I was talking to my friend Shel Israel about the situation in New Orelans.  He asked me what the population of New Orleans is now and what it was before Katrina. I wasn't sure.   This graphic (which  appeared in today's Times Picayune) appears to tell the story.  We're down from almost half a million people to about 100,000.  And with the housing shortage that New Orleans has, it's hard to envision the population increasing very quickly. This Times Picayune article talks about the effect this population decrease will have on local politics.  Bottom line: we don't need as many politicians, but how will the politicians react to this development?