Post Katrina Storm Disorder: Post Catastrophe Syndrome and Resilence

Traditional disaster therapy literature has focused on the acute and intermediate consequences of the catastrophe experience, with interventions targeted at addressing the acute needs. Individuals with persistent loss responses are typically described as having sustained one or more levels of severity of post traumatic stress disorder, which assumes diagnostically a single or grouped traumatic event. In reality, recovery from a major natural disaster consists of multiple, recurring traumas, which include the short and long term displacement of families and individuals, destruction of communities and family networks, loss of existing infrastructure, voiding of the social contract, multiple and frequently fruitless negotiations with state, federal recovery organizations, insurance companies, and contractors, and persistent visual and functional reminders of the destruction power of the storm. The hurricanes of 2005 have provided a living laboratory in which to look at the long term response to the continuing traumas of that sustained recovery experience.

Key to formulating an effective therapeutic intervention 30 months after the storm includes recognition of the differences in the storm experiences in geographically diverse areas (e.g., Mississippi v. Louisiana) and the impact of cultural and socioeconomic issues on recovery (and in that context recognizing the almost absence of affordable housing in both states).

Post-Katrina Storm Disorder is defined as a sub-threshold stress-related set of symptoms that many survivors (including clinicians) continue to experience. The key characteristics are: irreplaceable loss of a “sense of place”, disillusionment, exhaustion and post-storm heightened threshold of anxiety. A modified “six stages of disaster recovery” model, incorporating the four-stage model utilized by most disaster relief agencies, has been modified and expanded to address key missing stages and dynamics. Positive (traumatic growth) opportunities are elaborated considering changes in personal priorities, life in a FEMA trailer, metamorphosis of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast campus, the role of volunteers and resident self-help and personal life commitments. Seventeen helpful clinical strategies in working with post-Katrina survivors (i.e., advocacy and follow-up, not comparing traumas, clarifying pre- versus post-Katrina issues and problems, humor) are outlined.