When the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative (CEHI) launched the Texas Flood Registry in April 2018, its goal was to improve the health and well-being of the Houston area, which was still recovering from the devastating damage of Hurricane Harvey less than a year later. It was to create a needs assessment that focused on the impact on housing. landing.
In 2019, Tropical Storm Imelda hit another blow to the state, causing massive flooding and devastating already devastated communities. An example of climate change causing more frequent storms and climate-related events.
Then came COVID-19.
Building on the existing registry, CEHI researchers, along with collaborators at Rice University and the Environmental Defense Fund, have developed a new study to assess the economic and health impacts of the pandemic nationwide, but in a series of A special focus is on people who have been hit hard by climate disaster. Two results stood out.
Respondents whose financial and mental health were most affected by Hurricane Harvey were four times more likely to lose income during the pandemic than those who were not severely affected by Hurricane. They were five times more likely to suffer from severe anxiety because of the pandemic.
This study highlights the cumulative impact of economic stress and mental health effects on individual well-being when exposed to a series of multiple crises. The 4-fold or 5-fold increases seen in these statistical models are highly alarming, and the time between events highlights the cumulative and lasting effects of these stressors. ”
Marie Lynn Miranda, CEHI Director, Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame
The Texas Flood Registry is the first of its kind to use online survey data to track the short-term and long-term health and housing impacts of hurricanes.
For this study, the team analyzed survey data collected from individuals affected by Hurricane Harvey and other major flooding events, such as Tropical Storm Imelda, between April 2018 and October 2020. did. The Registry initially asked about their experiences during and after each storm, including property and income loss and feelings of distress related to Hurricane Harvey.
A study to determine the impact of COVID-19 was published in April 2020 with similar questions. Results were drawn from a sample of approximately 3,000 respondents who completed both surveys.
The financial and mental health stresses felt during Hurricane Harvey have had a greater impact on individuals’ lives during the pandemic than the problems of property damage and flooding. Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic respondents are more than twice as likely to report difficulty paying rent or bills during the pandemic compared to non-Hispanic white respondents high, consistent with other studies showing that these groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
CEHI researchers say the study informs recovery efforts that tend to focus on the acute effects of natural disasters, such as property damage, but downplay long-term effects such as mental health. It is said that it may be useful to give
The research will also help federal, state, and local officials identify communities at high risk of emotional and economic stress during and after severe climate change, and offer additional help and assistance. You may benefit.
“Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and this study shows that repeated exposure to disasters affects resilience,” Miranda said. The emotional and financial impact of the events of will be felt for years, that is, long after the storm itself has passed.”
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Journal reference:
calendar, R. and others. (2022) Economic and mental health impact of multiple adverse events: Hurricane Harvey, other flood events, and the COVID-19 pandemic. environmental research. doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114020.
