Rita Causing Flashbacks for Katrina Survivors

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Three short weeks after they fled New Orleans, many victims of Hurricane Katrina housed in shelters in Texas are having difficulties dealing emotionally with the disaster, particularly with another destructive hurricane headed toward the state where they took refuge, according to Nancy J. Smyth, Ph.D., associate professor and dean of social work at the University at Buffalo.

"Residents of shelters are having a very difficult time," she said. "They're anxious and scared when they have to deal with rain, or just water."

Smyth was in San Antonio recently to attend a meeting of the National Deans and Directors of Social Work, and while there volunteered to counsel hurricane victims staying at a local shelter.

"The folks I talked to said they were getting extremely anxious when it rained at all and were starting to have flashbacks of Hurricane Katrina," she said. "Unfortunately, evacuation conditions don't help. There's not much to do and the mind has nothing to focus on except what has happened."

Mental health professionals have predicted that roughly one-third of evacuees will develop some sort of mental disorder as a result of their experiences, Smyth said. In addition to acute stress disorder and eventually post-traumatic stress disorder, many also will suffer from depression and other types of anxiety problems.

The stress of the disaster and evacuation also may trigger feelings related to losses and death that occurred before the hurricane, she said, with persons who suffered earlier losses at greater risk of PTSD and depression.

Communication continues to be a barrier to getting people the help they need, according to Smyth.

Talking with mental health personnel at the shelter, she learned that they had not been included in incident command meetings for the first two weeks, making their efforts just that much more difficult.

In a disaster, Smyth said, mental health professionals need to be working side-by-side with first responders in order to educate them to the emotional challenges victims may face.

"It's about building relationships and helping people understand issues beyond their niche," she said. "If you don't have those relationships before a disaster, they won't develop after it already has occurred."