Calm After the Storm? Disasters and Mental Health

Co a s ta l He r i ta g e VOLUME 26, NUMBER 2 WINTER 2012

Wi n t e r 2012 • 1 3 CALM AFTER THE STORM? DISASTERS AND MENTAL HEALTH Trusting relationships help disaster victims recover. 7 Science Serving VETERANS SAILING AND BUILDING FRIENDSHIPS South Carolina’s Coast Veterans find community on the harbor. Coastal Heritage is a quarterly publication 9 of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, a university- based network supporting research, education, checklist of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and outreach to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunity for the people A doctor who has experience helping patients with PTSD can diagnose it. of South Carolina. Comments regarding this or future issues of Coastal Heritage are welcomed 11 at [email protected]. Subscriptions are free upon request by contacting: FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DISASTER TRAUMAS LINGER Parenting is hard—but it’s even harder following a disaster. S.C. Sea Grant Consortium 287 Meeting Street 13 Charleston, S.C. 29401 phone: (843) 953-2078 FRIENDS LEARN TO LISTEN AFTER DISASTERS e-mail: [email protected] They just want someone to talk to. Executive Director 14 M. Richard DeVoe Director of Communications NEWS AND NOTES Susan Ferris Hill • Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance receives NOAA funding Editor • Knauss fellows from S.C. selected John H. Tibbetts • Tougher building codes strengthen new homes Art Director 16 Pam Hesse Pam Hesse Graphic Design Ebbs and Flows • 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting  • National Hurricane Conference Board of Directors • 2012 Land Grant and Sea Grant National Water Conference The Consortium’s Board of Directors is composed of the chief executive officers of its member institutions:

Dr. David A. DeCenzo, Chair President, Coastal Carolina University James F. Barker President, Clemson University Dr. P. George Benson President, College of Charleston Dr. Raymond S. Greenberg President, Medical University of South Carolina John E. Frampton Executive Director, S.C. Department of Natural Resources Dr. George E. Cooper ON THE COVER: President, S.C. State University Veterans on Deck, a nonprofit organization, offers veterans chances Lt. General John W. Rosa to develop job skills and build confidence through sailing. President, The Citadel PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM Dr. Harris Pastides COPYRIGHT © 2012 by the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. All rights reserved. President, University of South Carolina

2 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e PATRIARCH. The late Jimmy Scott, a McClellanville, S.C., shrimper, and his family endured a long night of terror when Hurricane Hugo struck in 1989. PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM/THE POST AND COURIER Calm After the Storm? Disasters and Mental Health

by John H. Tibbetts

ohn Scott was nine years old when ground on state Highway 17, some two Jimmy Scott was known as a JHurricane Hugo’s storm surge miles inland from the vast salt marshes serious, conscientious man—not ripped his father’s 68-foot shrimp that buffer this part of the South someone to take unnecessary risks. trawler, Mary Margaret, from its Carolina shoreline from the heaviest So it must have stunned him when the moorings and tossed the boat ashore Atlantic storm waves. Crab Pot’s front door blew open and into a tree. It would be stranded there John Scott’s father, Jimmy, who water poured in. “Jimmy knew we were for months. passed away in October 2010, knew in trouble when we saw fish swimming The storm surge rammed into that stretch of coastline as well as by, because that meant it was salt the Scotts’ home near Jeremy Creek, anybody. You couldn’t miss him on water,” recalls his wife Mary. swamping the entire first floor and the fishing dock—he was the one with Before Hugo made landfall, most driving furniture into the backyard. the red-and-white beard of biblical coastal South Carolinians shrugged The surge also poured into the Crab proportions. at hurricane warnings. The tropical Pot restaurant, where the Scotts and After his Navy service, Jimmy cyclones of living memory had another family had taken refuge on the Scott returned to live in his hometown spawned unimpressive winds and evening of September 21, 1989. of McClellanville (pop. 495), S.C. In downpours. Hugo was the first major The Crab Pot, now shuttered, 1973, he built his shrimp boat and hurricane (Category 3 or higher) was located in a single-story, concrete- captained her on his last healthy day to strike the U.S. Atlantic Coast in block structure on relatively high before he died. 25 years.

Wi n t e r 2012 • 3 The Scotts made a wise decision and three dogs. They waded through 23 miles away, respectively. Volunteers to evacuate their low-lying home in a vast muddy lake formed by the surge over days struggled to clear roads so town near Jeremy Creek and take and piled into a pickup truck. Riding that news of their troubles could reach refuge in a sturdy building farther slowly along the dark highway, they emergency responders in Charleston. inland—a decision that might have watched floodwater “boiling over the John Scott, now 31 and still living saved their lives. Scientists later found hood of the truck,” Jimmy Scott told in McClellanville, has fragmented that Hugo’s surge (19.8 feet) was one of the Charleston Post and Courier. memories of their night in the Crab the highest ever recorded in the conti- “When we left that restaurant, Pot. “It was pretty scary for a nine-year- nental United States. I wouldn’t have given you five cents old. We could hear trees breaking The surge had lost most of that for anybody’s life in that truck.” outside, some hitting the building. height by the time it reached the Crab After a hundred yards or so, they There were nasty smells and the water Pot, but it remained a potential killer. came to a friend’s home on higher coming in. It was rough. I was holding Not long after midnight when the ground where they huddled the rest tight to my sister, Margaret, who is 10 shrieking wind outside suddenly of the night. years older.” stopped, Jimmy Scott and his close When the sun rose, they looked He has a deeper recall of Hugo’s friend, Larry McClellan, knew they outside at the ruined landscape of mud long aftermath—the sights and sounds were in the eye of the storm and de- and soaked, broken trees. It turned out of people working together to rebuild. cided to move their families to higher that huge numbers of shattered pines “Pretty much all of my family is ground. had fallen across the roads, blocking here, on both my mom and dad’s sides,” Everyone mobilized outside—the routes to Charleston and Georgetown, he says. “I heard them discussing things, Scott family, the McClellan family, the nearest urban centers, 35 miles and talking things over, and I saw a lot of

FAMILY TIES. The Scott family, including (left to right) brothers Jim, Hugh, John, mother Mary, and sister Margaret, recall the hardships of Hurricane Hugo at home in McClellanville, S.C. The storm surge swamped their entire first floor, but the family quickly moved into the second floor and began repairs. PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM

4 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e people volunteering to help others.” John felt safe and protected within the warm circle of his extended family, and he soon returned to the world of childhood. “After several days, it was kind of an adventure for me. There was debris scattered from one end of town to the other, and I spent a lot of time rummaging around. We didn’t have school for a month.” His brother Jim, eight years older, recalls a more anguished McClellanville after the storm. He was visiting some friends at Clemson University when the hurricane struck, and he raced home. He found nearly every structure in town severely damaged. There was a thick layer of mud over everything— mud, mud, and more mud. Countless dead fish rotted in the streets and in ruined kitchens and dining rooms. Yet Hugo’s psychological impacts RESILIENT. “During Hugo, we lost a lot of physical things—trees, boats that seemed as devastating as its physical tied up here—but the village recovered quite well,” says John Scott, shown here ones. on the shrimp boat, Olivia Anne, that he owns with his father-in-law. “People were dazed,” Jim says. PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM “They seemed lost. Shaken to their core. From a young person’s perspec- do, isn’t it—feed her family?” me. People came in here to help us fix tive, it was distressing to see people A year passed before the Scott things all over our little town.” who were pillars of the community, family fully regained their lives’ normal strong people, stoics, who seemed rhythms. But belonging to a close-knit The thousand-yard stare broken by the hurricane, saying, ‘We’re community seemed to ease some never going to recover, we’re never feelings of loss and disruption. Some disaster victims, unfortu- going to get the town back.’ I’d never “This town is a large extended nately, don’t bounce back. Children seen any of them like that.” family,” says Jim, the eldest son. “Six or grieve the loss of their homes, neigh- An attorney, now 40, Jim Scott eight core families have been here for borhoods, and schools. Many adults still lives in McClellanville and com- generations, with newcomers sprinkled struggle with debt after losing jobs and mutes to his office on Broad Street in in. Everybody knows everybody. businesses, their emotional and finan- Charleston. “The initial shock and There’s a sense of we’re all in this cial resources shattered. awe, though, faded pretty quickly,” he together. We have a sense of commu- Over the past 30 years, there has says. “People started rolling up their nity and the bond of neighbors, who been a dramatic change in the under- sleeves, neighbors helping neighbors.” are really our aunts and cousins and standing and treatment of mental- Still, it was a grueling time. everything. If we didn’t have a lot of health trauma caused by overwhelming Hugo’s surge had thrown Jimmy’s close friends and family to help us, it fear and stress. Hundreds of studies fishing boat into someone’s yard, and would have been a lot harder.” have focused on post-disaster mental he missed the traditionally lucrative Just as important, McClellanville health alone, and the field continues fall shrimping season, so money was witnessed the kindness of strangers. to grow. tight. The family home was still stand- “During the first days,” Jim says, According to the scientific litera- ing, but the surge ruined the entire “no one outside seemed to realize the ture, the mental-health impacts of first floor. The Scotts moved into the extent of our problems here, but later Hurricane Katrina, which hit South second floor and began repairs. on there was an incredible amount of Florida and the Gulf Coast in 2005, Every day was exhausting. “I assistance from across the country. That has far outstripped that of any other would get up and do mud,” says Mary, lasted weeks, months. It was the most natural disaster in U.S. history. “then I’d line up something to eat. impressive thing about the experience. Researchers have learned that That’s what a mother is supposed to The sustained help over time amazed close, trusting relationships among

Wi n t e r 2012 • 5 family members, romantic partners, from Afghanistan (11.5%) and it’s far friends, neighbors, and coworkers are higher than that of the U.S. general essential in helping people recover population (about 3%). emotionally after frightening, stressful To the public, PTSD is usually events. associated with men emotionally Studies show that individuals are damaged by combat experience. But more likely to suffer psychological women are more likely than men to disorders after a disaster if they: suffer this psychological injury on the • were injured or had seen people home front or in peacetime. Victims of hurt or killed, rape, for example, have very high rates • experienced additional extreme of PTSD. stress, such as loss of a loved one or “Psychological trauma is an afflic- loss of a job, a business, or a home, tion of the powerless” in the face of an • are lower income, minorities, or “overwhelming force,” writes Judith women, or Herman, a clinical psychiatrist at • lack emotional and social support Harvard University Medical School, before, during, and after the event. in her 1992 landmark book Trauma It’s normal to suffer some psycho- SHELL-SHOCKED. This Marine and Recovery. logical strain after a life-threatening exhibited a “thousand-yard stare” Besides PTSD, there are two other disaster. The body, including the brain, after combat in World War II. major mental-health disorders associ- can’t snap back to a calm state once a PHOTO/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ated with traumatic events: depression terrifying event has passed. Charged (having persistent feelings of hopeless- by fear and stress, the body continues “I was pretty shook up. We all were.” ness) and anxiety (having worries that to run hard on emergency fuel. Again, this is a common response become debilitating). Some PTSD The body’s first response to poten- to a terrifying event. But if symptoms victims suffer one or both of these tial danger begins in the primary of reoccurring intense stress and fear disorders as well. senses—smell, sight, and hearing— don’t eventually disappear, they might A strong signal of PTSD is a that send alarm messages to a network indicate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder closed-down, glassy-eyed expression. of structures in the brain. This com- (PTSD). Veterans in World War II called this plex brain network evaluates a poten- Victims of PTSD suffer a variety dazed, unfocused look the “thousand- tial threat by measuring it against of symptoms, including intense anxi- yard stare.” Unresponsive and numb, stored memories of past dangers. ety, nightmares, insomnia, fatigue, a soldier had lost awareness of events Is the threat real? Is it imminent? emotional numbness, repetitive and and people around him, cut off from If the answers are yes and yes, the unwanted memories, social isolation, the world. If he was fortunate, he brain sends emergency messages to the and “hyper-response” in which they would be treated in a hospital for shell nervous and endocrine systems, which overreact to perceived threats. shock or battle fatigue. in turn flood the body with energy For obvious reasons, certain Bessel A. van der Kolk, a Boston- reserves. The heart beats faster, adren- populations—combat veterans and based clinician and researcher, has aline surges, and the body is ready to emergency responders, for example— said, “The traditional thing about fight or flee. are especially susceptible to PTSD. PTSD is a hyper-response, but we have Although our fight-or-flight bio- A study by Jeanne Mager come to understand more in recent logical mechanisms allow us to com- Stellman, a psychiatrist at Mount years . . . that the worst thing that pete and survive in a dangerous world, Sinai School of Medicine in New York happens in trauma is that people shut they can become over-sensitized, City, and her colleagues tracked 10,132 down and become like zombies. Then hair-triggered. After a series of trau- workers involved in the rescue, clean- people really lose their capacity to matic experiences, ordinary events and up, and recovery operations at the engage in and attend to their current common stresses can repeatedly trip World Trade Center after the 9/11 environment. Their whole system gets the brain’s emergency alarms. terrorist attack. Workers completed a shut down.” A McClellanville man who asked mental-health questionnaire 10 to 60 Mental-health workers have their that his name be withheld was 15 years months following the attack. own term for this shutting down symp- old when he and his family experi- Stellman’s survey found that 11.1% tom: “dissociation.” It is interesting to enced Hugo’s terrifying storm surge. of the responders met the study criteria note that the word “dissociate” comes One night, weeks after the hurricane, for probable PTSD. That’s nearly the from Latin words that when translated a booming thunderstorm hit the town. percentage of probable PTSD preva- mean a “reversal of unity or “Yeah, I was frightened again,” he says. lence among U.S. veterans returning companionship.”

6 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e Lost trust and exile

The American cultural ideal of rugged individualism is new in human Veterans sailing and history. The reality, of course, is that our ancient ancestors evolved over building friendships hundreds of thousands of years in the context of group dynamics. They were ach Friday afternoon, nomads who moved in kin-based Eteams of military veterans bands from place to place, searching sail from Ashley Marina into for food and shelter. As individuals, Charleston Harbor, testing Paleolithic people were not imposing their skills against currents, figures. They lacked claws, horns, or tides, and winds as part of a sharp teeth to kill prey or fight off nonprofit initiative called predators and enemies. Veterans on Deck for men Their modest weapons were made and women who have suffered of stone, bone, and wood. They sur- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder vived by trusting one another, hunting (PTSD) and other serious and gathering in small parties, solving psychological injuries. Ron Acierno, a psycholo- problems together, and older genera- gist and director of the PTSD tions passing down knowledge. Life in Clinical Team at the Veteran a Paleolithic band was hard and short, Affairs Medical Center in but life as an outcast was far harder Charleston, has established a and shorter. A lone-wolf personality two-step process for patients. wouldn’t have survived long in the “First, you have to address Paleolithic times. the symptoms,” exposing the To develop emotionally, each of patient to stress in a control- us needs a well-founded trust in others, lable way, he says. “We’ll have especially during our earliest years. the guy go to Walmart, starting When very young, children first find him off easy, at 2 p.m. on a a sense of self that is dependent on Thursday when nobody’s there, a parent or other caretaker’s gentle and then we’ll gradually build TEAMWORK. A Veterans on Deck sailboat. authority. Through this powerful up his exposure to a 2 p.m. on PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM attachment, children trust a caretaker’s a Saturday when it’s packed. love, protection, and guidance. Then we’ll have him describe So he founded the nonprofit Later, this faith in others can be his memories of the horrible things Veterans on Deck, an organization extended to a broader circle of siblings, that happened to him [in combat] in that uses sailing to contribute to so- aunts, uncles, and cousins, close excruciating detail. We’ll even tape- cialization, teambuilding, and personal friends, and in adulthood to spouses record it, and then have him listen to growth among male and female veter- and other romantic partners. The it two or three times a day for weeks. ans recovering from PTSD, substance desire to trust and care for others is When he’s done with that, the symp- abuse, and military sexual trauma. imprinted in our DNA. Without that toms are very low” because he has “We are putting them in a situa- trust, we are more vulnerable to psy- become desensitized to his traumatic tion that has a little stress and seeing memories. them work their way through it—that’s chological injuries. Later, spouses update Acierno on sailing,” says Acierno. Veterans col- In 2007, Ron Acierno, a clinical veterans’ progress. “A wife will call and laborate to overcome fear, build rela- psychologist at the Medical University say, ‘He’s not jumping out of his skin tionships, and find success in making of South Carolina and the Veteran anymore, and he’s not so upset all the a boat move through the water. Affairs Medical Center in Charleston, time. But he doesn’t go out to dinner “Now guys are coming down the and his colleagues published a study anymore, he doesn’t play athletics marina and working on the boats. showing that individuals who devel- anymore.’ ” Unless you get them motivated to get oped strong connections to social Acierno realized that the veterans out of the house, they won’t do it. networks—churches, synagogues, need another therapeutic step toward The wives call and say, ‘This is great. mosques, senior centers, schools, and recovery. “Therapy without social and He’s getting out. He never did that other institutions—preceding four community interaction isn’t enough.” before.’ ” damaging hurricanes (Charley,

Wi n t e r 2012 • 7 Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne) that struck butcher every week and to the baker friends, and faith” when coping with Florida in 2004 were more protected every week, and if they don’t show disaster, White says. People who have from major psychological disorders up, people will say, ‘Where is so-and- all three assets seem more emotionally following the storms. so?’ ” resilient. It’s not uncommon for seniors A community’s intervention for White was especially struck by the especially to be emotionally harmed older adults, Acierno says, could “come faith community’s response to Katrina by a disaster because of their social down to [providing access to some evacuees. “Churches didn’t just wait, isolation. form of] transportation to help their they started doing. They deserve “As you get older, your social- social re-connection.” accolades for opening their doors to support networks naturally decline,” Still, it can be humiliating for people. It was amazing to see them says Acierno, “particularly if your proud, resourceful individuals to ask live out what they believe in.” ability to replace them declines be- for aid following a disaster. cause you have less access to Rebecca White, a child-and- TIME TRAVELING transportation.” family development specialist with Consider an older female who has the Louisiana State University Human beings are natural time macular degeneration and can’t drive AgCenter in Baton Rouge, guided travelers, though we do it only in our anymore. She lives in a single-family Hurricane Katrina evacuees to disas- minds. Our brains have evolved in home in a sprawling, car-dependent ter-aid resources. Many evacuees had ways that allow us to think often of neighborhood, and it’s too far for her lost everything in the storm and the past and dream of the future. Our to walk to the grocery store, her needed food, shelter, clothing, and memories, hopes, and plans allow us to monthly book club, and her weekly medicine. experience time travels countless times bridge game. “All of us at some time need a day. But extended, overwhelming “You can see the train wreck support from others,” White says. “We stress can damage this essential cogni- coming,” says Acierno. “You see people need support from others to live opti- tive ability. who are getting less and less social mally in this world we live in, and this The novelist Joyce Carol Oates contact because of aging.” An older is even more important after a disaster. once explained how memory is central person’s isolation becomes a risk factor It’s my instinct that if you have been to our emotional and intellectual lives: for depression or PTSD if a natural comfortable asking for help before a “All of civilization . . . is the conse- disaster or other trauma occurs. disaster, you will be more comfortable quence of never being exclusively here, “In walking cities such as New asking for help after one.” now but [also] having the conscious York and Chicago and Seattle,” says Hurricane Katrina was a reminder ability to be there, then.” Acierno, “an older adult can go to the that it’s important to have “family, When you read to a child, plan a wedding, ask for a raise, serve on a jury, write a birthday card, watch a play, reminisce with a friend, perform an experiment, or decide to work harder at a task next time, you are not only engaged in the present—here, now—but you are imaginatively and intellectually engaged in other places and times as well. Think of a man working late again at the office. When he finally walks to his car, a spring breeze carries a familiar scent. “Freshly cut grass,” he says to himself. “Those evenings playing catch with the kids. Why don’t I have time for that anymore? I have to make time. But how?” In a few moments, he has been HEALING PROCESS. Frank Wainwright leads a discussion during a physically located in one time and “Fundamentals of Recovery” class for a group of veterans living with mental place, while recalling other times and illness at the Ralph H. Johnson Veteran Affairs Medical Center. places and deciding to make plans for PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM the future.

8 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e How does the human brain per- Researchers are exploring wheth- form such mental time travels? er psychotherapy and anti-depressants First, the man’s sense of smell sent can restore hippocampus volume in Checklist of a message to his brain, which trans- some PTSD patients and fully restore PTSD symptoms lated and organized this information lost brain functions. There are three categories of PTSD into language (“freshly cut grass”). A single traumatic event can’t symptoms, according to the National Then he remembered moments of atrophy brain tissue, according to Institute of Mental Health. similar sensory experiences (“playing researchers. Instead, only longer-term catch with the kids”) and put those trauma appears to shrink the hip- 1) Re-experiencing symptoms events in the context of his life story pocampus. Combat veterans, severely • Flashbacks—reliving the trauma (“Why don’t I have time for that any- abused children, or children living in again and again, including physi- more?”). And, finally, he decides to unstable, high-stress, or violent envi- cal symptoms like a racing heart make a plan (“I have to make time. ronments are some populations that • Bad dreams But how?”) to change his behavior. can have elevated cortisol concentra- • Frightening thoughts A person with a healthy brain tions in the brain. 2) Avoidance symptoms experiences mental time travels many A traumatized person with an • Staying away from places, events, times a day, his mind cycling rapidly atrophied hippocampus is more likely or objects that are reminders of through memories, present sensory to struggle mentally and emotionally, the experience experiences, and plans for the future. having lost some of the cognitive • Feeling emotionally numb Prolonged, intense fear and stress, powers needed to learn, adapt to • Feeling strong guilt, depression, however, appear to harm a crucial challenges, and sustain relationships or worry brain structure—the hippocampus— with friends, family, and broader social • Losing interest in activities that that allows human beings to remember circles. were enjoyable in the past • Having trouble remembering the and learn. dangerous event Cortisol, a steroid hormone, is Relationships and released naturally in the brain during resilience 3) Hyperarousal symptoms times of stress. But during long-term, • Being easily startled terrifying experiences, cortisol can rise Newer medicines, including anti- • Feeling tense or “on edge” to concentrations that appear to kill depressants, and therapy can help • Having difficulty sleeping or neurons in the brain, especially in the severely traumatized people recover. having angry outbursts sensitive hippocampus, which allows Even so, as Suniya Luthar, a professor Hyperarousal symptoms are usu- people to store and retrieve memories. of psychology and education at ally constant instead of being triggered Excess cortisol seems to shrink the Columbia University, points out, by things that remind someone of a hippocampus and cause memory “Resilience rests, fundamentally, traumatic event. deficits and other symptoms of PTSD, on relationships.” according to Victor Carrion, a psychia- Jonathan Shay, an author and trist at Stanford University School of psychiatrist who works with trauma- How is PTSD Medicine. tized military veterans, has said that detected? The hippocampus is one of the PTSD sufferers improve their mental A doctor who has experience helping first brain areas to indicate damage health by connecting with others who people with mental illnesses can diag- from Alzheimer’s disease, which de- have experienced similar dangers. nose PTSD. To be diagnosed, a person stroys memory and traps sufferers in “Recovery only occurs in community.” must have all of the following for at the immediate present, among other Among combat-trauma victims, talk- least one month: symptoms. ing with other veterans is essential. • At least one re-experiencing Brain scans of Vietnam veterans “Peers are the key to recovery.” symptom with severe PTSD symptoms have Disaster survivors, research shows, • At least three avoidance symptoms shown significant losses in hippocam- suffer fewer long-term mental-health • At least two hyperarousal symptoms pus volume. Brain scans of adolescents consequences if they feel physically, • Symptoms that make it hard to go with severe PTSD show similar emotionally, and financiallysafe once about daily life, go to school or atrophy. the immediate danger has passed. work, be with friends, and take care PTSD is isolating in part because Those who lack such crucial resourc- of important tasks its victims struggle to think effectively, es—the poor, the isolated, the elderly, Source: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, to integrate thoughts of the past, the sick, and children who have lost a booklet, National Institute of Mental awareness of the present, and expecta- caretakers—are more vulnerable to Health. tions of tomorrow. psychological disorders.

Wi n t e r 2012 • 9 forget lessons learned. “Memories of a hurricane,” says Read, “soften after five years.” Still, it’s healthy for us to sustain some memories—even traumatic ones—that can strengthen our emotional connections to those closest to us. Katrina evacuees have returned to New Orleans because it’s the place where they have homes, jobs, friends, and family, where they hope to be remembered, where their ancestors were born and lived and died. The author Rebecca Solnit ex- plains: “Before Katrina, [New Orleans] had the most stable population of any American city: people stayed in one neighborhood, sometimes one house, for generations; they knew their music, their food, their history, and their neighbors, and they celebrated their rituals, which are complex and fre- quent in this Catholic bacchanal of a Pastor Joseph Bolick greets members of St. SUPPORT NETWORK. port town that has a second-line jazz Matthew’s Lutheran Church after Sunday morning service in Charleston, S.C. parade with dancing in the streets People with strong ties to social networks—churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, and other institutions—are more protected from major psychological every Sunday.” disorders after disasters. Long-time residents of jazzy, tour- PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM isty, industrial, port-city New Orleans share one characteristic with those of It’s understandable that most a rare crescent of high land overlook- tiny McClellanville, S.C., battered by hurricane victims want to rebuild their ing the vast swampy delta of North Hugo in 1989. lives and social networks in the same America’s largest and most important It’s not a love of parades and places that were devastated by wind trading waterway, the Mississippi dancing in the street. and water. River. McClellanville’s quiet, oak-lined New Orleans, for instance, recov- For centuries, settlers drained lanes are a world apart from Mardi ered its population far more quickly miles of swamps to build port facilities, Gras’ urban grit and gaiety, its heraldic than expected. Six years after oil pipelines, factories, roads, schools, cornets and pounding drums. But this Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city and homes. Ever since, delta sediments fishing village and the Big Easy both has 350,000 residents, the same popu- have been slowly compacting so that have held onto something that so lation as pre-Katrina. The metropoli- the city, surrounded by levees, sinks many other places have lost: a sense of tan area has nearly the same number further below sea level, and every year shared life challenges within families of people living there as it did before becomes a little more vulnerable to and through generations. the storm. devastating storm surges. The Scott family of McClellan Its recovery was aided by the Perhaps because of our immigrant ville remembers Hurricane Hugo every federal government’s National Flood heritage, Americans are optimistic, September. They recall a night of Insurance Program, which is supported forward thinking, and skilled at shap- terror and a year of continual struggle and subsidized by taxpayers. Flood ing profoundly stressful experiences together. It’s a life marker for the insurance and other sources of federal into narratives of struggle and renewal. family—events happened before or disaster aid have allowed many prop- We believe that we can rise above after Hugo. erty owners to rebuild there. almost any challenge. The same is true of the people The geographer Peirce Lewis “We are a resilient people,” says of New Orleans. As Bill Read of the once wrote that New Orleans is “an Bill Read, director of the National National Hurricane Center says, inevitable city on an impossible site.” Hurricane Center. “Someday they’ll tell their grandkids The city was inevitable because the Americans, though, can also be everything they did on the day the original fort and town were built on reckless. We ignore warning signs and levees failed.”

10 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e For children and families, disaster traumas linger

urricane Katrina and its From 2005 to 2007, Howard after Hurricane Katrina. Most of the H aftermath were life-altering Osofsky, a psychiatrist at the Louisiana children assessed had not returned traumas for many Gulf Coast children State University Medical Sciences to their pre-storm homes. who suffered continuing mental-health Center, and his colleagues screened Children separated from a parent problems after being displaced from more than 7,000 children and adoles- or caregiver at the time of the screening their homes. cents with a mean age of 14 from suffered increased trauma symptoms. In August 2005, Katrina killed heavily affected Louisiana parishes Children also had more trauma symp- more than 1,800 people, the great majority of them in New Orleans where flooding filled up 80% of the city after levees and floodwalls failed. Many thousands more lost homes, jobs, businesses, schools, and communities, losses that affected the emotional lives of children. Desperate families lived for days on New Orleans rooftops. Some saw people die. Thousands more families waited out the storm and its aftermath in shelters of last resort—the Super dome and the New Orleans Conven tion Center—where they endured brutal heat, no electricity or function- ing toilets, and dwindling supplies of food and water. When rescuers arrived, many children were misplaced in the transportation and shelter system. They were put on buses or planes alone with no idea about where they were going and who would care for them. After the storm, more than 5,000 children were reported missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. All were eventually recovered. For months or years following the storm, thousands of families lived in crowded shelters, temporary homes, and trailers, moving frequently. Overwhelmed adults lost jobs and savings in the storm, and struggled to pay for food and clothing. Children were torn away from everything familiar, safe, and stable. Numerous studies have shown that children and adolescents who are separated from their parents, homes, and communities during and after a LOST CHILDHOOD. Three days of cleanup after Hurricane Katrina in New natural disaster are more vulnerable Orleans left ruined children’s toys and other debris at the curb. to mental-health problems. PHOTO/WADE SPEES

Wi n t e r 2012 • 11 toms if they had lived in a shelter or if they were living currently in a government-supplied trailer instead of their own home. Younger children (grades 4–8) suffered more trauma symptoms than high school students. Osofsky and his colleagues argue that government disaster plans should account more for the needs of parents and children. One of the tragedies of Katrina, researchers say, is that so many boys and girls lost part of their childhoods. Instead of having time to develop emotionally in safe environments, untold thousands of children were exposed to intense stress and disorder in shelters and emergency housing. Rebecca White, a child-and-family development specialist with the Louisiana State University AgCenter in Baton Rouge, witnessed the extreme stress among evacuee families after Katrina. “There were hundreds of thousands of evacuees who had to leave CAREFREE. Richard and Emily Lynn Hertau enjoy a tire swing in their the security of their own homes,” she McClellanville, S.C., front yard. To develop emotionally, children need plenty of says. “Suddenly they are surrounded time to play in safe environments. by strangers in a group-living environ- PHOTO/GRACE BEAHM ment. Children are having nightmares and crying 24/7 because they are when they are at their wit’s end? break. You always need a support afraid. Emotions are so close to the We opened side rooms in the shelter system to help you be a better parent, surface, and some parents can react where children could go and have art and you especially need it during harshly. How can we help parents activities, so parents could take a a disaster.”

Reading and Websites

Acierno, Ron and others. “Psychological Medical University Department of Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Sequelae of the 2004 Florida Hurricanes: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. www.charleston.va.gov Implications for Post-Disaster Interven- academicdepartments.musc.edu/ tion.” American Journal of Public Health, psychiatry Solnit, Rebecca. “Diary,” London Review April 2007. of Books, August 5, 2010. Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Carrion, Victor G. and others. “Stress Consortium. www.masgc.org Stellman, Jeanne Mager and others. Predicts Brain Changes in Children: A “Enduring Mental Health Morbidity and Pilot Longitudinal Study on Youth Stress, National Center for PTSD at the U.S. Social Function Impairment in World Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trade Center Rescue, Recovery, and Hippocampus,” Pediatrics, March 2007. www.ptsd.va.gov Cleanup Workers: The Psychological Dimension Herman, Judith. Trauma and Recovery: National Institute of Mental Health. of an Environmental Health Disaster,” The Aftermath of Violence—from www.nimh.nih.gov Environmental Health Perspectives, Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New Osofsky, Howard and others. “Posttrau- September 2008. York: Basic Books, 1997. matic Stress Symptoms in Children After Veterans on Deck. Hurricane Katrina: Predicting the Need for www.veteransondeck.org Mental Health Services,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, April 2009.

12 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e Friends learn to listen after disasters

n innovative program along the sense of trust among friends, family, the community fragments instead AGulf Coast is helping commu- neighbors, and leaders. of coming together. nities become more disaster resilient “When a natural disaster strikes, Peer listeners are not trained by strengthening their social and people quit blaming God after about a to become counselors or therapists. emotional ties. week,” Picou says. “Usually a therapeu- Instead, they emphasize empathy and A “peer listener” educational tic community emerges. Local people understanding. Still, they are taught effort on the Gulf Coast has trained help one another. All of the external how to listen for red flags, such as more than 600 local leaders in listen- resources—food, blankets, water— increases in drinking and family ing more effectively to friends, family, coming in are positive.” violence, and how to refer people neighbors, and coworkers. But in a technological disaster like to professional resources. “Peer listening helps leaders— Deepwater Horizon, a corrosive reac- Peer listeners, in short, listen more folks in the fishing industry, faith tion tends to grow. In many cases, the than they talk. groups, extension, and the police— principle party that caused the techno- “I’ve found myself peer-listening gain skills they need to create stronger logical disaster does not step forward to every day,” says Swann, who has taken social safety nets in their communi- accept responsibility and address the the training several times. “It tends to ties,” says LaDon Swann, director of problem. In a vacuum of accountabil- be very therapeutic—people just want the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant ity, residents tend to self-isolate, and someone to talk to.” Consortium, which has supported the project on the Gulf Coast. “After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I saw that we needed a way for people to manage their stress.” Steven Picou, a sociologist with the University of South Alabama, developed peer-listener training in Alaska from 1995 to 1997 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He has done extensive research on communities, disasters, and “collective trauma.” Technological disasters such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf Coast states are far more damaging than natural disasters to personal relationships in communities, says Picou. After a hurricane strikes, you clean up the mess and rebuild. It’s frequently a straightforward but expen- sive process. A technological disaster’s effects, by contrast, are harder to measure and recover from. The Deepwater Horizon spill lasted for 87 days after the oil first started leak- ing, and emotional stresses mounted as workers lost jobs and businesses suffered. “The spill looked like it could go EMOTIONAL RELEASE. An impromptu art display outside Bobby Pitre’s on and on,” says Picou. tattoo shop, in Larose, La., reflects Gulf Coast residents’ anger during the Triggered by human error, techno- Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. logical disasters corrode a community’s PHOTO/PAULA OUDER/LOUISIANA SEA GRANT

Wi n t e r 2012 • 13 engage a diverse set of partner organi- Alliance released an Implementation Governors’ South zations and multi-disciplinary teams of Plan that promotes science-based Atlantic Alliance scientists and resource managers to policies and solutions to enhance and receives NOAA funding gather existing data about the region’s protect the value of coastal and ocean coastal and ocean waters, including resources and support the region’s The National Oceanic and winds, currents, fishing grounds, sea- culture and economy. Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) floor depths and contours, marine “We look forward to working has announced Regional Ocean mammal and turtle migratory path- with Alliance leadership and its many Partnership funding of two Governors’ ways, shipping lanes, military traffic, program partners in support of these South Atlantic Alliance (Alliance) tourism, and other uses. important regional coastal and ocean initiatives that will support the coordi- The Alliance will also provide the initiatives,” said Rick DeVoe, executive nated efforts of North Carolina, South framework for the synthesis and deliv- director of the S.C. Sea Grant Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to ery of coastal and ocean information, Consortium. develop a multi-state framework for enhance collaborations among users, The mission of the South planning activities in the region’s and begin development of decision Atlantic Alliance is to significantly coastal and ocean areas. Federal fund- tools that can be used by state and increase regional collaboration among ing will support ocean data-gathering regional resource managers and local South Atlantic states to sustain and and analyses for multi-use ocean plan- community officials as they balance enhance the environmental, natural ning and hazards resiliency, and the ocean uses with conservation. resource, economic, public safety, continuation of the development and “This coordinated approach will social, and national defense missions organization of the Alliance. The help bolster our coastal economies, of the respective states and the South combined award of $1,062,431 million improve our environmental quality, Atlantic region. will be administered by the S.C. Sea and preserve our shared natural heri- For more information, visit the Grant Consortium, on behalf of the tage. I’m optimistic that we can work Alliance website at www.southatlantic Alliance, over an 18-month period together to find common solutions to alliance.org. that began January 1, 2012. shared challenges and opportunities,” “With this financial support from said Hunter. our federal partner, the Alliance will The Governors’ South Atlantic Knauss fellows from build its capacity to work across state Alliance was formally created in S.C. selected lines and regulatory jurisdictions to October 2009 by an agreement signed transform the way we promote and by the governors of North Carolina, Two College of Charleston gradu- manage our shared ocean and coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. ate students were recently selected as resources,” said Earl Hunter, chair of The Alliance fosters collaboration to Knauss executive fellows in the 2012 the Alliance’s Steering Group and more efficiently manage and protect class of the prestigious John A. Knauss commissioner of the S.C. Department the region’s immense and diverse Marine Policy Fellowship. Nominated of Health and Environmental Control. ocean and coastal resources, prepare by the Consortium, the students were According to Hunter, the and respond to natural disasters such among 42 Alliance will be working over the next as hurricanes, and promote economic selected from 12-18 months with a number of part- sustainability. a nationwide ners, including the Southeast Coastal In December 2010, the Alliance pool of over Ocean Observing Regional Associa released its Action Plan identifying 100 candi- tion and the Skidaway Institute of four priority focus areas for the south- dates. Oceanography, to begin the design of eastern United States: healthy ecosys- Jennifer a multi-state and regional framework tems, working waterfronts, clean Bennett re- for coastal and ocean planning and coastal and ocean waters, and disaster- cently com- decision-making. The Alliance will resilient communities. In July 2011, the pleted a M.S. Jennifer Bennett

14 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e in marine biology, and will serve in Pang, a civil engineer at the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Clemson University. Atmospheric Research Ocean “Your home will likely Acidification have less damage from Program. flying debris during a hurri- Anna Manyak cane if your neighbors have also completed retrofitted their roofs or a M.S. in built new homes under marine biology, current codes,” Pang said. and will serve Coastal building in the NOAA codes have been improved National since Hurricane Hugo

Ocean Service Anna Manyak struck South Carolina in Office of 1989. For instance, builders Hurricane Irene tore siding off this building in Kitty Hawk, N.C., Response and Restoration. in coastal areas are now damaging the structure’s “envelope” that should protect it from To further the education of to- required to attach a high winds. PHOTO/Weichiang Pang morrow’s leaders, the National Sea home’s roof sheathing to Grant Office sponsors the John A. rafters with additional nails, Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship which helps prevent roof losses. simulated subdivision including a few Program, bringing a select group of Pang and his colleague, Scott dozen homes built under today’s coast- graduate students to the nation’s capi- Schiff, also of Clemson University, al construction code. Then the same tal, where they work in the federal have created computer models to test storm was directed through a similar government’s legislative and executive the degree to which stronger building simulated neighborhood but with branches. codes have improved the structural homes built under typical construction The students learn about federal integrity of coastal housing. practices of 1989. policy regarding marine and Great Intense hurricane winds can Today’s tougher building codes, Lakes natural resources and lend their rip plywood sheathing off a roof and it turns out, have made roofs stronger scientific expertise to federal agencies carry it airborne as a dangerous missile in high winds. and congressional staff offices. through a neighborhood, where it “If another storm the size of Hugo Each of the nation’s 32 Sea Grant can crash through windows and walls. hits the coast, we would see less roof programs can nominate up to six When intense wind enters a failure and less debris because of students to the Knauss fellows program house’s protective “envelope,” it in- today’s improved roofing practices,” annually. Selections are then made creases air pressure inside like blowing Pang said. competitively from among those nomi- up a balloon beyond its capacity. The scientists, moreover, have nations. Visit www.scseagrant.org/ If enough pressure builds in the house, created a computer model that will Content/?cid=56 for more information the structure will break at its weakest be used to analyze the trajectories of about the Knauss fellowship. point, usually the roof, which can fly wind-borne debris and their impacts off and create additional airborne on buildings. debris. This product could eventually be Tougher building codes Pang and Schiff have created used to design better impact-resistant strengthen new homes a computer model that simulates a windows and shutters, determine the Hurricane Hugo-sized catastrophic orientation of buildings and placement Good fences make good neigh- storm hitting northern Charleston of windows in respect to the coastline bors. But good roofs might make even County—the same location where and typical hurricane paths, and refine better ones, according to a new study Hugo made landfall in 1989. The building codes to make structures by Sea Grant researcher WeiChiang simulated storm was directed into a stronger.

Wi n t e r 2012 • 15 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. Postage Paid Charleston, SC Science Serving PERMIT #248 South Carolina’s Coast 287 Meeting Street Charleston, S.C. 29401

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2012 Ocean National Hurricane 2012 Land Grant and Sciences Meeting Conference Sea Grant National Salt Lake City, Utah Orlando, Florida Water Conference February 20-24, 2012 March 26-29, 2012 Portland, Oregon May 20-24, 2012 The American Society of This conference’s primary Limnology and Oceanography goal is to improve hurricane Water scientists, engineers, educators, and the American Geophysical preparedness, response, recovery, and managers can share knowledge and Union sponsor this international and mitigation in order to save ideas, and identify and update emerging gathering of more than 4,000 lives and property in the United issues. The conference is hosted by a attendees. Eighteen sessions feature States and the tropical islands of team from Land Grant and Sea Grant presentations and discussion about the Caribbean and Pacific. It also institutions around the nation, in physical, biological, and chemical provides a national forum for cooperation with national program oceanography, watersheds, climate federal, state, and local officials leaders from the U.S. Department of change, ocean policy, and ocean to exchange ideas and recommend Agriculture and National Oceanic and observations. Visit http://sgmeet. new policies for emergency manage Atmospheric Administration. Visit www. com/osm2012 for more ment. For more information, visit usawaterquality.org/conferences/2012 for information. www.hurricanemeeting.com. more information.

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ATTENTION SCHOOL TEACHERS! The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium has designed supplemental classroom resources for this and past issues of Coastal Heritage magazine. Coastal Heritage Curriculum Connection, written for K-12 educators and their students, is aligned with the South Carolina state standards for the appropriate grade levels. Includes standards-based inquiry questions to lead students through explorations of the topic discussed. Curriculum Connection is available on-line at www.scseagrant.org/education.

16 • Coa s ta l He r i t a g e