Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group Study [United States]

Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive and costliest natural disaster to occur in the United States. Nearly 5 million people lived in the path of Katrina. An additional 1.3 million lived in the New Orleans metropolitan area at the time of the hurricane. Although not in the direct path of Katrina, New Orleans was devastated by a massive flood that occurred as a result. The purpose of this study is to inform policy-makers of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on survivors' physical and mental health and barriers to treatment, as well as assist in future natural disaster planning efforts. This will be achieved by monitoring, over time, a group of people who represent those affected by Katrina. The Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group consists of a broad cross-section of people affected by Katrina, including separate samples of people who resided in the New Orleans metropolitan area at the time of the hurricane and those who resided in the counties or parishes of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi that were in the path of the hurricane. Follow-up interviews conducted with the Advisory Group members to monitor the pace of recovery, as well as reports prepared for policy-makers, press releases, and digitally recorded oral histories are being posted on the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group Web site as they become available. Demographic variables include gender, age, race, ethnicity, pre-hurricane residence (place), pre-hurricane type of housing (detached home, mobile home, apartment, etc.), pre-hurricane employment, family income, marital status, education, home ownership (owned with mortgage, owned without mortgage, rented, etc.), where the respondent lived at time of interview, religious preference, and religiosity.