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Maladaptive behaviors during a disaster refer to actions that do not benefit the individual or society. Quarantelli highlights several maladaptive behaviors myths associated with disasters: widespread antisocial behavior, passivity, role conflict or abandonment, and sudden widespread mental health breakdowns (1). Despite early work reporting these myths, the common perception is that maladaptive behaviors such as rioting, looting, panic, and criminal conduct are prevalent in the wake of disasters. This is despite research by de Ville de Goyet and Arnold which has called on public officials and the media to stop propagating false disaster myths (2, 3). The classic academic response has been that this is a misconception and that, in fact, such behaviors are a very small part of the overall disaster and are mostly non-existent. Misconceptions about the prevalence of maladaptive behaviors can lead to inappropriate resource allocation, such as allocating extra police officers to prevent looting when the overall crime rate for the most part, decreases during disasters (4). Furthermore, while there are several persistent maladaptive behaviors myths, this is confounded by the presence of actual negative behaviors post disaster: false damage claims, insurance fraud, illegally obtaining relief supplies, failure to provide contracted repair services, hoarding of essential items, psychological trauma (which can lead to intergenerational transmission of the disaster memory) and medications and price gouging (5).When reading lay-press articles about recent disasters, it appears that these behaviors are on the rise. This raises the question: Has there been a change in the basic human reaction to disasters and are maladaptive behaviors on the rise? This review article focuses on case studies from three natural disasters: Hurricanes Hugo and Katrina, and the Haiti Earthquake. The goal of this review article is to evaluate these three natural disasters for evidence of maladaptive behaviors.

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The mental health impact of disasters is substantial, with 30-40% of direct disaster victims developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not yet clear why some people cope well with disaster-related trauma while others experience chronic dysfunction. Prior research on non-disaster trauma suggests that an individual's history of traumatic experiences earlier in the life course, prior to the disaster, may be a key factor in explaining variability in psychological responses to disasters. This study evaluated the extent to which pre-disaster trauma predicts PTSD trajectories in a sample of Hurricane Katrina survivors followed for 12 years after the storm. Four PTSD trajectories were identified using latent class growth analysis: Resistant (49.0%), Recovery (29.3%), Delayed-Onset (8.0%), and Chronic-High (13.7%). After adjusting for covariates, pre-Katrina trauma had only a small, positive impact on the probability of long-term, chronic Katrina-specific PTSD, and little effect on the probability of the Resistant and Delayed-Onset trajectories. Higher pre-Katrina trauma exposure moderately decreased the probability of being in the Recovery trajectory, in which Katrina-specific PTSD symptoms are initially high before declining over time. When covariates were added to the model one at a time, the association between pre-Katrina trauma and Chronic-High PTSD was attenuated most by the addition of Katrina-related trauma. Our findings suggest that while pre-disaster trauma exposure does not have a strong direct effect on chronic Katrina-specific PTSD, pre-Katrina trauma may impact PTSD through other factors that affect Katrina-related PTSD, such as by increasing the severity of Katrina-related trauma. These findings have important implications for the development of disaster preparedness strategies to diminish the long-term burden of disaster-related PTSD.

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The American Red Cross (ARC) self-reports post-disaster efforts annually, potentially biased for public image. The lack of formal reviews of ARC interventions' social impacts further exacerbates the issue. This scoping review aims to address both issues by summarizing and evaluating the social impact of ARC's national disaster interventions. As a secondary objective, this review will also provide important information to guide ARC and other organizations in truly fulfilling their missions. The inclusion criteria involve participants of all age groups, marginalized communities, displaced individuals, and ARC disaster responders. Opinionated statements, except for anecdotes, were excluded. This review involves all United States (US) areas that have been affected by disasters and required assistance from ARC. With no search limits, all evidence was searched on PubMed from July to August 2023. Two stages of screening were conducted by two independent reviewers: title/abstract screening and full-text screening. During each stage, each paper underwent a quality assessment. Disagreements in each stage were resolved before proceeding to the next stage. Through 22 academic papers, the review outlines key themes in ARC comprehensive interventions on disaster preparedness and on-site disaster interventions. However, research gaps were found in ARC recovery interventions, especially their impact on evacuees. This investigation found that ARC makes general efforts to address the needs of communities they assist before, during, and after disasters. Because the results suggest that ARC is moving in the correct direction in reducing the nationwide harm disasters cause, ARC's social impact on studied populations is mostly positive.

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Existing causal studies examining the impact of hurricanes on health and health-related outcomes typically focus on short-run impacts and specific outcomes associated with physical health. In this paper, I explore the long-term effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the mental health of adults using two individual-level datasets from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. Difference-in-differences models are used to estimate the long-run causal impact of hurricanes. I compare the mental health of adults living in Katrina and Rita affected counties to those in other counties before and after the hurricanes. My findings suggest that the hurricanes increased the number of poor mental health days by 0.49 days per 30 days (14.5 %) during a seven-year post period (2006-2012) and psychological distress by 0.46 K-6 points (15.2 %) during a six-year post period. I also find that the estimated effects were notably larger among specific sub-groups, such as single mothers and black respondents. These results are robust to different sample and functional form specifications. From a policy perspective, these findings suggest that long-lasting effects need to be included in any analysis of the impact of hurricanes in order to capture their full effect.

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INTRODUCTION: Historically, natural disasters have been known to have an effect on humankind including physical and mental health. Studies dating from the early nineteen hundreds have shown repeated associations between different catastrophic natural disasters and its effects on cardiovascular (CV)health, including increased morbidity and mortality. Knowing that these effects on CV health last sometimes up to a decade, we sought to study the effects of hurricane Katrina on incidence of acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) to see if the effects perpetuated and continued or mitigated after the first decade. METHODS: Ours is a single center, retrospective observational study at TUHSC to compare the incidence of AMI, chronobiology and other demographic characteristics between the 2-year pre-Katrina and 14-year post-Katrina group. After IRB approval, patients were identified using specific ICD 9 and 10 codes. Data was collected by chart review and stored in secure password protected files. Descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation and percentages were calculated. Statistical analysis comparing mean and standard deviations were performed using Chi-square test and t-test. RESULTS: The pre-Katrina cohort saw a 0.7% incidence of AMI, whereas the post-Katrina cohort saw 3.0% incidence of AMI (p < 0.001). The post- Katrina group was also noted to have significantly higher comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, polysubstance abuse and coronary artery disease. CONCLUSIONS: Even 14 years after the storm, there was a four-fold increase in the incidence of AMI. Additionally, psychosocial, behavioral and traditional risk factors for CAD were significantly higher more than a decade after the natural disaster as well.

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Hurricane Katrina (category 5 with maximum wind of 280 km/h when the eye is in the central Gulf of Mexico) made landfall near New Orleans on August 29, 2005, causing millions of cubic meters of disaster debris, severe flooding, and US$125 billion in damage. Yet, despite numerous reports on its environmental and economic impacts, little is known about how much debris has entered the marine environment. Here, using satellite images (MODIS, MERIS, and Landsat), airborne photographs, and imaging spectroscopy, we show the distribution, possible types, and amount of Katrina-induced debris in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Satellite images collected between August 30 and September 19 show elongated image features around the Mississippi River Delta in a region bounded by 92.5°W-87.5°W and 27.8°N-30.25°N. Image spectroscopy and color appearance of these image features indicate that they are likely dominated by driftwood (including construction lumber) and dead plants (e.g., uprooted marsh) and possibly mixed with plastics and other materials. The image sequence shows that if aggregated together to completely cover the water surface, the maximal debris area reached 21.7 km2 on August 31 to the east of the delta, which drifted to the west following the ocean currents. When measured by area in satellite images, this perhaps represents a historical record of all previously reported floating debris due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floodings, and tsunamis.

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OBJECTIVE: To measure the prevalence of maternal anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in those exposed to natural disasters. METHODS: A literature search of the PubMed database and www.clinicaltrials.gov from January 1990 through June 2020 was conducted. A PRISMA review of the available literature regarding the incidence and prevalence of maternal anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following natural disasters was performed. A natural disaster was defined as one of the following: pandemic, hurricane, earthquake and post-political conflict/displacement of people. Studies were selected that were population-based, prospective or retrospective. Case reports and case series were not used. The primary outcome was the prevalence of maternal anxiety, depression and PTSD in the post-disaster setting. Two independent extractors (I.F. & H.G.) assessed study quality using an adapted version of the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment tool. Given the small number of studies that met inclusion criteria, all 22 studies were included, regardless of rating. Data were extracted and aggregate rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD were calculated to provide synthesized rates of maternal mental health conditions among participants. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. A total of 8357 pregnant or birthing persons in the antepartum and postpartum periods were studied. The prevalence of post-pandemic anxiety, depression and PTSD were calculated to be 48.2%, 27.3%, and 22.9%. Post-earthquake depression and PTSD rates were 38.8% and 22.4%. The prevalence of post-hurricane anxiety, depression and PTSD were 17.4%, 22.5%, and 8.2%. The rates of post-political conflict anxiety, depression and PTSD were 48.8%, 31.6% and 18.5%. CONCLUSION: Given the high rates of anxiety, depression and PTSD among pregnant and birthing persons living through the challenges of natural disasters, obstetrician-gynecologists must be able to recognize this group of patients, and provide a greater degree of psychosocial support.

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While the COVID-19 pandemic is known to have caused widespread mental health challenges, it remains unknown how the prevalence, presentation, and predictors of mental health adversity during the pandemic compare to other mass crises. We shed light on this question using longitudinal survey data (2003-2021) from 424 low-income mothers who were affected by both the pandemic and Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. The prevalence of elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms was similar 1-year into the pandemic (41.6%) as 1-year post-Katrina (41.9%), while elevated psychological distress was more prevalent 1-year into the pandemic (48.3%) than 1-year post-Katrina (37.2%). Adjusted logistic regression models showed that pandemic-related bereavement, fear or worry, lapsed medical care, and economic stressors predicted mental health adversity during the pandemic. Similar exposures were associated with mental health adversity post-Katrina. Findings underscore the continued need for pandemic-related mental health services and suggest that preventing traumatic or stressful exposures may reduce the mental health impacts of future mass crises.

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There is limited knowledge on the relationship between neighborhood factors and mental health among displaced disaster survivors, particularly among women. Hurricane Katrina (Katrina) was the largest internal displacement in the United States (U.S.), which presented itself as a natural experiment. We examined the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and mental health among women up to 10 years following Katrina (N = 394). We also investigated whether this association was modified by move status, comparing women who were permanently displaced to those who had returned to their pre-Katrina residence. We used hierarchical linear models to measure this association, using data from the American Community Survey and the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health study. Neighborhood SES was created as an index which represented social and economic characteristics of participants' neighborhoods. Mental health was measured using mental component summary (MCS) scores. Increased neighborhood SES was positively associated with mental health after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, economic positioning, time, and move status (19.6, 95% Confidence Interval: 5.8, 33.7). Neighborhood SES and mental health was also modified by move status. These findings underscore the need to better understand the impacts of socioeconomic conditions and health outcomes among women affected by natural disasters.

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Introduction and purpose: The geographic location of the Gulf South leaves communities in continuous threat, response, and recovery disaster cycles. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 provided an opportunity to study disaster mental health. Less than 5 years after the storm, many Hurricane Katrina survivors were impacted again by the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill. Despite adversities impacting Gulf communities, over 90% of participants reported they were resilient. The purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to strengths following adversity in communities affected by repeated disasters. Specifically, we focused on survivor perceptions of personal, spiritual, or community changes in efforts to describe community resilience and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Methods: Participants were recruited through a quantitative survey and community flyers. Participants represented southeastern Louisiana, in areas impacted by hurricanes and the oil spill-for a total of five focus groups and 41 participants. Focus groups began by asking each participant to provide a brief overview of their disaster survival story and three additional guiding strengths-based questions. Data were transcribed using Dragon Speech Recognition software. A total of 963 unique responses were analyzed and coded. Results: The following themes were identified: connectedness (n = 259), coping (n = 94), spirituality (n = 60), adaptability (n = 47), and self-reliance (n = 23). Participants noted a growth mindset from the disasters and also acknowledged coinciding negative experiences (n = 154) associated with community change and loss, where subthemes included change in connectedness (n = 97), crime (n = 26), and feeling like an outsider (n = 31). Discussion and implications: These findings help scholars and mental health practitioners better understand the lived experiences of PTG in a community of survivors impacted by recurring traumatic experiences. In keeping with previous literature, PTG and negative experiences associated with trauma are not mutually exclusive, but occur simultaneously. Our results offer a holistic picture of coping with cumulative or repeated traumas and suggest that connectedness, coping, and spirituality provide important buffers to negative psychosocial outcomes.

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Gun violence drastically increased in urban cities following the ease of shutdown restrictions associated with the Coronavirus Pandemic. The association of gun violence and COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of taking a public health perspective, particularly as it relates to impacts on the Black community. In this article we discuss macro-level factors and community traumas in the city of New Orleans, an area that has had longstanding issues related to gun violence. Community structural issues, traumatic stress from disasters, and recommendations to address disparities in social determinants of health are discussed.

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Differences in population-level climate change beliefs have been identified, which are often attributable to coastline proximity, urban-rural classifications, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, gender, education, socioeconomic status, and age. This study assessed the impact of spatial, experiential, and demographic-related characteristics on climate change beliefs among a population of Hurricane Katrina survivors. Participants from the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study who answered climate change belief questions were included in this analysis. Race was found to be the most critical contributor to climate change belief, where the adjusted odds of white individuals believing in climate change were 0.2 times the odds of Black individuals believing in climate change (confidence interval: 0.1-0.4). Other sociodemographic factors, such as age, gender, income, and education, were not found to be significant. Several theoretical perspectives were considered to explain the variation in climate change beliefs, including social vulnerability, environmental deprivation, and political ideology. Future research as to why these racial differences exist should be conducted. By doing so, climate change communication, education, and mitigation and adaptation strategies may be improved.

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Social capital is widely recognized as health bolstering and more recently as playing a central role in family and community disaster response and recovery. Community social institutions may be considered a critical mechanism for the development of social capital, as they provide opportunities for community members to interact to build the networks and relationships that are necessary for taking collective action. In particular, social institutions may have a pivotal role to play in supporting children's health and welfare postdisaster. Community social institutions such as membership, civic, and religious organizations are community resources that stimulate learning and foster healthy child development. This study explores communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWHOS). Social institutions data were paired with household interviews from the Women and Their Children's Health Study (n = 521) to explore whether the density and type of community social institutions in the community were associated with child mental health outcomes. Multilevel logistic regression models examining the role of social institutions, household characteristics, maternal characteristics, and child-specific factors in child mental health showed that for each additional prosocial institution established in the community during recovery from Hurricane Katrina, respondents were 21% less likely to report a child mental health diagnosis (odds ratio 0.79; 95% confidence interval 0.63-0.98). These findings highlight the potential of investment in social institutions in communities to bolster resilience and foster meaningful recovery.

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Social research has long argued that collective resources and major events like disasters have an important impact on violent crime, but it has been difficult to show their effects because data are scarce. We conducted a large survey in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that included questions about collective resources. We aggregated our sample to the census tract level and merged it with data on concentrated disadvantage and violent crime. Our analyses show that bridging social networks are associated with lower levels of violent crime, while bonding social networks are associated with higher levels. Social trust is associated with lower levels of violent crime, but civic engagement has no impact. Concentrated disadvantage is associated with higher levels of violent crime. Finally, our results suggest that disaster recovery increased the importance of collective resources but not concentrated disadvantage on violent crime.

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Land use change can elevate disease risk by creating conditions beneficial to species that carry zoonotic pathogens. Observations of concordant global trends in increased pathogen prevalence or disease incidence and landscape change have generated concerns that urbanization could increase transmission risk of some pathogens. Yet host-pathogen relationships underlying transmission risk have not been well characterized within cities, even where contact between humans and species capable of transmitting pathogens of concern occurs. We addressed this deficit by testing the hypothesis that areas in cities experiencing greater population loss and infrastructure decline (i.e., counter-urbanization) can support a greater diversity of host species and a larger and more diverse pool of pathogens. We did so by characterizing pathogenic Leptospira infection relative to rodent host richness and abundance across a mosaic of abandonment in post-Katrina New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). We found that Leptospira infection loads were highest in areas that harboured increased rodent species richness (which ranged from one to four rodent species detected). Areas with greater host co-occurrence also harboured a greater abundance of hosts, including the host species most likely to carry high infection loads, indicating that Leptospira infection can be amplified by increases in overall and relative host abundance. Evidence of shared infection among rodent host species indicates that cross-species transmission of Leptospira probably increases infection at sites with greater host richness. Additionally, evidence that rodent co-occurrence and abundance and Leptospira infection load parallel abandonment suggests that counter-urbanization can elevate zoonotic disease risk within cities, particularly in underserved communities that are burdened with disproportionate concentrations of derelict properties.

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The impact and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill are described as an example of work done reflecting best practices and theory to gain a better understanding of risk and resilience for children and families. Hurricane Katrina, described as the worst natural disaster in the US history, resulted in traumatic separations of children and families and devastation of communities and schools. The impact was greater on families with fewer resources before the hurricane who were provided limited support to return and rebuild. Insufficient community support and economic resources contributed to prolonged traumatiaation and slow recovery. Many were still recovering from Hurricane Katrina when impacted by the Gulf Oil Spill. For families with multigenerational ties to the fishing and oil industries, the Gulf Oil Spill resulted in both cumulative trauma and increased risk. In implementing the behavioural health response, much was learned about promotive and protective factors for individual and community resilience. Services provided following the disasters were based on precepts of individual, family, and community resilience. To enhance recovery and support resilience, the development of regional coalitions across at risk areas provides important coordination before disasters occur for better preparation and response.

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BACKGROUND: Trypanosoma cruzi - the causative agent of Chagas disease - is known to circulate in commensal pests, but its occurrence in urban environments is not well understood. We addressed this deficit by determining the distribution and prevalence of T. cruzi infection in urban populations of commensal and wild rodents across New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). We assessed whether T. cruzi prevalence varies according to host species identity and species co-occurrences, and whether T. cruzi prevalence varies across mosaics of abandonment that shape urban rodent demography and assemblage structure in the city. METHODS: Leveraging city-wide population and assemblage surveys, we tested 1428 rodents comprising 5 species (cotton rats, house mice, Norway rats, rice rats and roof rats) captured at 98 trapping sites in 11 study areas across New Orleans including nine residential neighborhoods and a natural area in Orleans Parish and a neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish. We also assayed Norway rats at one site in Baton Rouge (Louisiana, USA). We used chi-square tests to determine whether infection prevalence differed among host species, among study areas, and among trapping sites according to the number of host species present. We used generalized linear mixed models to identify predictors of T. cruzi infection for all rodents and each host species, respectively. RESULTS: We detected T. cruzi in all host species in all study areas in New Orleans, but not in Baton Rouge. Though overall infection prevalence was 11%, it varied by study area and trapping site. There was no difference in prevalence by species, but roof rats exhibited the broadest geographical distribution of infection across the city. Infected rodents were trapped in densely populated neighborhoods like the French Quarter. Infection prevalence seasonally varied with abandonment, increasing with greater abandonment during the summer and declining with greater abandonment during the winter. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings illustrate that T. cruzi can be widespread in urban landscapes, suggesting that transmission and disease risk is greater than is currently recognized. Our findings also suggest that there is disproportionate risk of transmission in historically underserved communities, which could reinforce long-standing socioecological disparities in New Orleans and elsewhere.

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Research on the destinations of environmentally induced migrants has found simultaneous migration to both nearby and long-distance destinations, most likely caused by the comingling of evacuee and permanent migrant data. Using a unique data set of separate evacuee and migration destinations, we compare and contrast the pre-, peri-, and post-disaster migration systems of permanent migrants and temporary evacuees of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. We construct and compare prefecture-to-prefecture migration matrices for Japanese prefectures to investigate the similarity of migration systems. We find evidence supporting the presence of two separate migration systems-one for evacuees, who seem to emphasize short distance migration, and one for more permanent migrants, who emphasize migration to destinations with preexisting ties. Additionally, our results show that permanent migration in the peri- and post-periods is largely identical to the preexisting migration system. Our results demonstrate stability in migration systems concerning migration after a major environmental event.

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Beyond their immediate effects on mortality, disasters have widespread, indirect impacts on mental and physical well-being by exposing survivors to stress and potential trauma. Identifying the disaster-related stressors that predict health adversity will help officials prepare for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Using data from a prospective study of young, low-income mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina, we find that bereavement, fearing for loved ones' well-being, and lacking access to medical care and medications predict adverse mental and physical health 1 y postdisaster, and some effects persist 12 y later. Adjusting for preexisting health and socioeconomic conditions attenuates, but does not eliminate, these associations. The findings, while drawn from a demographically unique sample, suggest that, to mitigate the indirect effects of COVID-19, lapses in medical care and medication use must be minimized, and public health resources should be directed to those with preexisting medical conditions, their social networks, and the bereaved.

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In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused unprecedented damage, widespread population displacement, and exposed Gulf Coast residents to traumatic events. The hurricane's adverse impact on survivors' mental health was apparent shortly after the storm and persisted, but no study has examined the long-term effects now that more than a decade has transpired. Using new data from a panel study of low-income mothers interviewed once before Hurricane Katrina and now three times after, we document changes in mental health, and estimate the sociodemographic and hurricane-related factors associated with long-term trajectories of mental health. We find that post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) declined at each of the three post-Katrina follow-ups, but 12 years after the hurricane, one in six still had symptoms indicative of probable post-traumatic stress disorder. The rate of non-specific psychological distress (PD) remained consistently higher in all three follow-ups, compared to the pre-disaster period. In full covariate-adjusted models, no sociodemographic variables predicted long-run combinations of PTSS and PD. However, 12 years later, exposure to hurricane-related traumatic events and pre-disaster PD significantly predicted co-occurring PTSS and PD. Hurricane-related housing damage predicted PTSS in earlier follow-ups, but no longer predicted PTSS in the long-term. Furthermore, hurricane-related traumatic events significantly differentiated the risk of having persistent PTSS, relative to recovering from PTSS. The results suggest that there is still a non-negligible group of survivors with continued need for recovery resources and that exposure to traumatic events is a primary predictor of adverse mental health more than a decade post-disaster.

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