Long‐term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the psychological well‐being of evacuees

Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 forced more than one million people to evacuate the Gulf Coast of the United States. This study examines the psychological health and well‐being of a subset of evacuees to determine the prevalence of ongoing mental health problems. Interviews were conducted with 101 adults who evacuated to Louisville, Kentucky, and were living in the state at the one‐year anniversary of the event or had recently returned to the Gulf Coast. The psychological health and well‐being of respondents was evaluated using several well‐validated measures. More than one‐half met the criteria for post‐traumatic stress disorder and a majority were suffering from depression and anxiety. The mean quality of life score was 0.6 on a scale from 0–1, suggesting that adaptation and return to pre‐hurricane well‐being had not occurred 12 months after the storm. The potential for long‐term psychological damage exists in this sample of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Results suggest other evacuees may also be at heightened risk.     

Return delays and evacuation order compliance: the case of Hurricane Georges and the Florida Keys

Abstract

Using interview data, we examine the effects of the heavily publicized delays in reentering the Florida Keys after Hurricane Georges on future evacuation intent. Of particular interest is the finding that the delays will have less influence on the future evacuation decisions of those who experienced them than on those who learned of them from secondary sources. Fear of return delays is only one factor in evacuation decision-making, albeit an understudied one. For this sample of evacuees, perceived risk is the most salient factor, and this risk assessment is not sufficiently diminished by the inconveniences, such as delays, associated with evacuation. For non-evacuees, however, the delay factor appeared to only increase their reluctance to evacuate the next time, despite their level of perceived risk.     

Civilians under fire: evacuation behaviour in north Israel during the Second Lebanon War

This paper seeks to understand evacuation behaviour in a case of spontaneous evacuation. During the Second Lebanon War of 2006, more than one‐third of residents in north Israel spontaneously evacuated—the remainder stayed in situ. Using a telephone survey of 665 respondents residing in north Israel, we were able to characterise the behaviour of evacuees and non‐evacuees. The main reasons cited for evacuating were fear of injury to self or family, the effect on children, inability to remain in a protective space, and family pressure. The main reasons cited for remaining at home were no suitable alternative, did not perceive a high level of danger, had to go to work, and there is no place like home. There were no significant differences with regard to most socio‐demographic characteristics of the population. These findings should aid emergency managers in preparing the population for a future emergency and in engaging in effective dialogue with the population during an emergency on the evacuation option.     

Characteristics of fear of crime in evacuation shelters after the Great East Japan Earthquake

After the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, numerous evacuees had to stay in evacuation shelters such as school gymnasiums. In general, after a disaster, ensuring the safety and security of evacuees in evacuation shelters is a serious problem. Consequently, many of these evacuees feared that they would be victims of crime in the shelters or that their evacuated homes would be burgled. To examine what factors evoke a general fear of crime in shelters and burglary of evacuated homes, we conducted an online questionnaire on 300 evacuees in Miyagi Prefecture who had stayed at such shelters. From a factor analysis of fear of 16 specific kinds of crime in shelters, we extracted two factors representing fear of property and female-related crime. We then found that a general fear of crime in shelters was associated with being young and a fear of female-related crime, while a fear of burglary of evacuated homes was associated with being female, owning a detached house, and fear of property crime. Based on these results, we provide recommendations aiming to help reduce the fear of crime in shelters and burglary of evacuated homes.     

Crime in post‐Katrina Houston: the effects of moral panic on emergency planning

This study used a mixed methods approach to estimate whether a moral panic occurred after Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuations of more than 250,000 people to Houston, Texas. The study viewed data from the Houston Police Department combined with a qualitative review of references of criminal activity in local print media. In total, over 8,500 lines of text were analysed to discern themes associated with media representations of the influence of evacuees on the city of Houston. There was little evidence of statistically significant increases in crime over the months following the evacuations. There was, however, evidence that evacuees, principally from New Orleans, were blamed for perceived increases in violent crime and lawlessness. There are also significant policy implications for state, local and federal governments. In particular, the policies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were blamed for at least some of the perceived crime attributed to Katrina evacuees.     

Return or relocate? An inductive analysis of decision‐making in a disaster

This paper proposes an inductive analysis of the decision as to whether to return or to relocate by persons in the State of Louisiana, United States, who evacuated after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005, respectively. Drawing on interviews with evacuees in these events and extensive fieldwork in the impacted area, the paper seeks to identify the folk dimensions of the decision‐making process, assess their arrangements, and situate the process in the larger context of risk and resilience in an advanced society. It suggests that, despite the material and emotional upheaval experienced by affected persons, the decision‐making process is a rational endeavour combining a definite set of tightly interconnected factors, involving material dimensions and substantive values that can act in concert or in conflict. In addition, it indicates that there are significant variations by geographic areas, homeownership, and kind of decision. Some theoretical implications, practical measures, and suggestions for future research are examined.     

Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston,Texas

This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre‐disaster and within‐disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston were collected 8–14 months after the disaster. Multivariate analysis revealed that rises in AT use were positively associated with education. Females and younger evacuees were more likely to have increased AT use. ID use increase was positively associated with resource loss and leaving the city before Katrina. Decreases in AT and ID use were found to be associated with disaster‐related exposure. The paper discusses the specific consequences of disasters on disadvantaged minority substance users and the importance of developing public health disaster policies that target this population.     

Returning to normalcy in the short term: a preliminary examination of recovery from Hurricane Harvey among individuals with home damage

This study focuses on coastal counties in Texas, United States, affected by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to gauge the influence of individual and contextual characteristics on people's ability to return to normalcy in the short term. Data from a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Episcopal Health Foundation between October and November 2017 were utilised in the analysis. The paper observes, based on the results of an ordered logistic regression, and contrary to previous work, that age, gender, levels of poverty, and social capital are not significant predictors of a return to normalcy. However, indicators such as whether a person evacuated, if he/she identified as Hispanic/Latino, the extent of damage sustained to one's home, and if one's automobile was damaged or destroyed are shown to affect recovery. A discussion of the potential reasons for these findings is provided as a means of informing future research on disaster recovery.     

Community resilience and volcano hazard: the eruption of Tungurahua and evacuation of the faldas in Ecuador

Official response to explosive volcano hazards usually involves evacuation of local inhabitants to safe shelters. Enforcement is often difficult and problems can be exacerbated when major eruptions do not ensue. Families are deprived of livelihoods and pressure to return to hazardous areas builds. Concomitantly, prevailing socio-economic and political conditions limit activities and can influence vulnerability. This paper addresses these issues, examining an ongoing volcano hazard (Tungurahua) in Ecuador where contextual realities significantly constrain responses. Fieldwork involved interviewing government officials, selecting focus groups and conducting surveys of evacuees in four locations: a temporary shelter, a permanent resettlement, with returnees and with a control group. Differences in perceptions of risk and health conditions, and in the potential for economic recovery were found among groups with different evacuation experiences. The long-term goal is to develop a model of community resilience in long-term stress environments.     

Repatriation of 150,000 sudanese refugees from ethiopia: the manipulation of civilians in a situation of civil conflict

This paper outlines the dramatic return to Sudan of 150,000 men, women and children from Itang Refugee Camp in Ethiopia in June 1991. These people were pawns in Sudan's civil war, manipulated by governments, military forces and the media – a state of affairs that the international community failed to deal with effectively. At the time of the return to Sudan, ICRC and the United Nations were working to assist the returnees in two different areas and each had a different access agreement and thus a different impact on the survival of the returnees. The paper focuses on the role of political awareness and negotiation in the protection of refugees and in the organisation of relief in the context of a civil war.     

Volcanic hazard or economic destitution: hard choices in Banños,Ecuador

In 1999, the entire population of tourism-dependent Baños, Ecuador, some 16,000 people, was evacuated in anticipation of a violent eruption of Mount Tungurahua. Subsequently, many areas in the risk zone experienced heavy ash falls, lahars, and landslides, although no cataclysmic events occurred. Many small rural communities were also evacuated. While these communities became impacted by the hazard, Baños avoided most direct effects. Conditions for all evacuees were grim, and their conditions compounded because Ecuador was simultaneously undergoing profound economic and political crises. Absent livelihood alternatives, community leaders from Baños organized a return to their town even though it remained under an evacuation order. An aggressive campaign brought tourists and more residents back and Baños revived economically; however, this was achieved at the cost of hazard awareness among both groups, tourists and residents, and public safety became compromised.     

Factors affecting the evacuation decisions of coastal households during Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh

Despite sincere efforts by concerned agencies and recent improvements in hazard warnings, thousands of at-risk people did not evacuate during Aila, a category-I tropical cyclone that struck southwestern coastal Bangladesh in 2009. This study investigated the responses of the people affected by Aila to cyclone warnings and associated evacuation orders, and unveiled behavioural aspects that explain why they did or did not comply with the evacuation orders. Utilising the primary data collected from 420 households living in the severely affected coastal sub-district Koyra, located in Khulna District, this study found that although more than 97% of the households had received cyclone warnings and evacuation orders before Aila's landfall, only around 26% had evacuated. We also examined this study's empirical findings for factors that had dissuaded people from complying with the evacuation orders. Relevant test statistics along with results from principal component analysis suggested that the significant and systematic absenteeism of households from disaster preparedness training appears to be one of the key determinants that affected their evacuation decisions, along with factors related to warning messages, the attributes of cyclone shelters, risk perception, and socioeconomic aspects. A number of recommendations are also presented in this study for people at risk to improve their evacuation rates in future emergencies, not only to save their own lives but also to save their livestock.     

‘You fix my community,you have fixed my life’: the disruption and rebuilding of ontological security in New Orleans

Using the concept of ontological security, this paper examines the physical and psychological loss of home and community following Hurricane Katrina. This qualitative longitudinal study includes 40 heads of households with school‐age children who lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Participants describe a breakdown in their social fabric at the individual and structural/community levels that contributes to a sense of community loss and social displacement, disrupting their ontological security—their notion of safety, routine and trust in a stable environment. Three interrelated reactions were common: 1) experiencing nostalgia for their old neighbourhoods specifically and New Orleans in general; 2) experiencing a sense of loss of people and things that represented a level of security or constancy; 3) initiation of a process for re‐establishing ontological security whether or not they returned to New Orleans. The paper concludes that intangible losses have an important psychological effect on community redevelopment and recovery from trauma.     

Forced migration, processes of return and livelihood construction among pastoralists in northern Sudan

The Hawaweer, a nomadic, pastoralist group in northern Sudan, were seriously affected by the drought in the Sahel during the mid-1980s. Their experience illustrates the connection between internally displaced people, normal mobility, forced migration, dilemmas and opportunities of return and how new livelihoods can be successfully constructed based on traditional rights, strong local institutions and external resources. Some displaced Hawaweer got the chance to return to their homeland as new livelihood opportunities were established; others did not get this opportunity nor would they have returned if they had been given the chance. In both situations, the processes of displacement and return had an impact on the sense of belonging and identity.     

Building resilience by challenging social norms: integrating a transformative approach within the BRACED consortia

Resilience is a complex phenomenon whereby a multitude of social and environmental factors, including gender, combine to shape the ways that shocks affect people. Looking at two BRACED (Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters) projects, in Burkina Faso and in Ethiopia, this article uses a desk review and primary data from partners and people at risk to explore how a gender‐transformative approach can be an integral part of resilience‐building projects, particularly those implemented by multi‐stakeholder consortia. It also suggests ways to incorporate a stronger gender component in similar future projects. The article argues that donors and programme managers must provide clear principles and guidelines for achieving gender equity within resilience‐building efforts. However, these must allow flexibility to adapt to norms, needs and resources as determined by implementing partners. The right balance can be achieved by facilitating spaces for individual and collective goal‐setting; assessing current capacity and trajectories; and lesson‐sharing as an iterative process for institutional learning.     

When information becomes action: drivers of individuals' trust in broadcast versus peer‐to‐peer information in disaster response

Information and communications technology (ICT), primarily mobile telephones and social media, is increasingly important in crisis and disaster response in developing countries. This fact raises an important question: in an information environment that includes traditional media such as radio and television, who are the people that trust information from ICT enough to act on it during a disaster? Drawing on a case study of and original survey data from the island nation of the Independent State of Samoa, this paper yields insights into who uses new technologies, particularly mobile telephones, to make decisions at the local level during crises such as natural disasters, as well as the socio‐political factors that motivate their behaviour. The results add to the growing pool of knowledge on utilisation of ICT and new technologies in developing countries for disaster response, and provide practical information on the social and political factors that lead people to trust different information sources and media.     

The hazards of one's faith: hazard perceptions of South Carolina Christian clergy

Abstract

Hazards take place in multiple contexts, contributing to the decisions we make in the face of a threat. Religious belief is considered an important contextual factor in how people understand and respond to environmental hazards. The objective of this paper is to examine one aspect of religious affiliation, biblical orientation, for its influence on the perception of hazard events. Using a survey of individual Christian clergy in South Carolina, the variation in hazard perception and anticipated mitigation responses among the clergy are explored. Geographic location and past hazard experience were found to be strong indicators of hazard concern, while an adherence to a particular theological doctrine was much less conclusive. The hazard mitigation choices voiced by the clergy were also consistent with little variation across the denominations investigated. While considerable differences were noted between the clergy regarding their view of hazard frequency, hazards and the second coming, and biblical orientation, few connections were established between these variables, hazard perception, and future mitigation behavior. Although past research has established that religious orientation influences one's view of their environment, this study demonstrates that this viewpoint is not necessarily extended to environmental extremes. Future opportunities to investigate the complexity of the religion-hazard nexus, such as whether the same results would have occurred in a different geographic region or if these results of individual clergy perceptions can shed light on larger religious attitudes toward hazards, are also discussed.     

海岸带风暴潮减水的统计分析

在青岛大港观测站连续30年实测资料的基础上,按照年、季、月等时段分别抽样,对风暴潮减水进行了长期统计分析.考虑到海岸地区风暴潮减水的诱因不同,在一维复合极值分布的基础上,提出了"组合分布法".新方法探讨了假设所有数据源于同一分布而产生的重现值估计误差.与年极值法和阈值法的计算结果进行了比较,说明以往算法得到的重现值偏低,并给出了青岛地区受季节变化影响的风暴减水设计重现值.统计表明,青岛大港春、秋、冬季均有风暴减水发生.由于寒潮大风是其产生的主导因素,以冬季的极值减水序列为样本,所得重现值与考虑季节变化得到的重现值相当.说明在实际工程区域,选取主要天气形势产生的水文要素为样本,替代所有观测数据,使统计计算得以简化的做法是可行的.     

居民灾害应对能力评价及影响因素研究

基于灾害应对能力现有理论基础,构建基于"认知-响应-备灾"的KRP模型,采用熵值法评估区域居民灾害应对能力;采用二分法,将受访者分为高、低水平灾害应对能力组,运用对比分析法和回归分析法,结合居民个体特征探讨灾害应对能力影响机制。结果发现:(1)区域居民的灾害应对能力处于中低水平,日常备灾能力是影响居民灾害应对能力的关键因素;(2)居民灾害应对能力呈现个体差异性,学历、年龄等因素对个体差异性影响较大,其它个体特征因素影响较小;(3)高、低水平组居民的灾害应对能力整体水平及其构成要素存在显著的群体差异特征,其能力差距的主要影响因素是日常备灾能力,其中住宅防灾和应急物资准备情况为关键影响因子。最后基于以上分析结果,为我国宏观防灾规划管理和居民灾害教育提供政策建议,有助于区域居民灾害应对能力及综合防灾减灾能力的提升。