Resilience in Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and most costly disasters in US history. We will extend three existing cohort studies of Hurricane Katrina survivors to understand the mechanisms by which disasters affect the mental and physical health of vulnerable populations over the long-term. The study takes advantage of prospectively collected, multidimensional pre-disaster baseline data and two waves of geocoded post-disaster surveys. Analyses are designed to investigate how individual- and community-level factors shape recovery trajectories. In addition to its contribution to disaster research, the inclusion of individuals involuntarily displaced to new neighborhoods provides a unique opportunity to explore contextual effects on health.