Disaster mythology and fact: Hurricane Katrina and social attachment

Abstract

Misconceptions about disasters and their social and health consequences remain prevalent despite considerable research evidence to the contrary. Eight such myths and their factual counterparts were reviewed in a classic report on the public health impact of disasters by Claude de Ville de Goyet entitled, The Role of WHO in Disaster Management: Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction (Geneva, World Health Organization, 1991), and two additional myths and facts were added by Pan American Health Organization. In this article, we reconsider these myths and facts in relation to Hurricane Katrina, with particular emphasis on psychosocial needs and behaviors, based on data gleaned from scientific sources as well as printed and electronic media reports. The review suggests that preparedness plans for disasters involving forced mass evacuation and resettlement should place a high priority on keeping families together--and even entire neighborhoods, where possible--so as to preserve the familiar and thereby minimize the adverse effects of separation and major dislocation on mental and physical health.

Figure 1

The sequence and timing of reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans^{a a}Actual experience (solid line) and sample indicators for the first year are shown along a logarithmic timeline of weeks after the disaster. The long-term projections (dashed lines) are based on an emergency period of six weeks, a restoration period of 45 weeks, and an expected tenfold increase in the duration of reconstruction compared with previous disaster experience. (Kates RW, Colten CE, Laska S, Leatherman SP. Reconstruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: a research perspective. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006;103:14653-60.) BNOB = Bring New Orleans Back

Figure 2

General acute patient days (December 2005 as a percentage of 2004) Reprinted with permission from Louisiana Hospital Association. (Utilization trends, March 17, 2006 [cited 2006 Mar 18]. Available from: URL: http://www.lhaonline.org/associations/3880/files/Utilization%20Trends.pdf)