Health Impacts of Displaced Populations: A Lesson from Hurricane Katrina

Background/Purpose: UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters received a grant from the National Science Foundation to assess the public health impacts of Hurricane Katrina. Primary data collection took place within Orleans Parish between January and June 2007. Data was collected outlining Orleans residents' evacuation routes as well as the health conditions that were reported and treated during and after evacuation.

Methods: CPHD utilized a modified cluster sampling methodology to obtain a random sample of four hundred twenty (420) households in Orleans Parish. Using an IRB approved protocol, CPHD administered face-to-face interviews regarding experiences both during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Results/Outcomes: Over one hundred fifteen (115) different cities in the United States were cited by respondents during the evacuation process. Spatial analysis shows that displaced residents first evacuated within Louisiana and surrounding states. Evacuees generally moved farther from New Orleans until eventually returning after, on average, staying in two to three different cities. Each household brought with them various health conditions; acute and chronic, in which the local health system needed to respond.

Conclusions: Displaced persons represent an enormous health burden for local health care systems. As our study illustrates, households displaced from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina sustained various physical and emotional injuries and physical illnesses, of which care was sought from health care in the one hundred fifteen cities that were visited. The analysis of a large-scale evacuation can exhibit trends and commonalities which may be shared with other natural disasters within the United States and abroad.