Evacuee Survey Gauges Storm's Mental Toll
Memories of disaster, aid deadlines provoke emotional suffering
By Kim Horner, The Dallas Morning News, March 10, 2006
For countless evacuees, the devastation – and anxiety – caused by Hurricane Katrina is hardly over.
The shock of losing loved ones and homes has been replaced with confusion over long-term aid and a dizzying series of deadlines – the latest coming Saturday, when evacuees have their last chance to apply for federal help.
Half of the 400 evacuees interviewed by the local Katrina Mental Health Task Force showed signs of serious emotional and/or financial distress, said Dr. Peter Polatin, task force co-coordinator and professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
The task force, created by the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas, asked respondents whether they suffered loss of appetite, inability to sleep, numbness, agitation or other indicators of mental health problems.
The survey was funded by a $75,000 grant from the Meadows Foundation.
The purpose is to identify people in need, and Dr. Polatin said he was surprised at how many there are.
He said an "adversarial and unresponsive" process, including evictions and deadlines, has added to evacuees' trauma.
"This process these poor evacuees have been having to go through makes it harder for them to get over it," Dr. Polatin said.
Yvonne Gilliam, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, acknowledged that applying for assistance has been frustrating and confusing for many evacuees, especially since some deadlines have been extended.
But she said the agency is doing its best in an unprecedented effort to help the 2.4 million people who have applied for assistance nationwide.
"We're doing everything we can to place people into permanent housing so they can begin to rebuild their lives if they haven't in the last six months," Ms. Gilliam said.
Up to here
Shirley Freeman, who walked in neck-deep water from her Ninth Ward home to shelter in the Superdome, said she lost all hope of putting her life back together in January after being evicted from a Dallas apartment.
Her landlord, who gave her a free month of rent, refused to accept her rental voucher.
"I said, 'Lord, where am I going to go?' " she said.
The 48-year-old is now living at the Dallas Life Foundation shelter while her 16-year-old son stays with a family friend.
"I just wanted to take my life. I asked God to help me," Ms. Freeman said.
She said she considered jumping from a bridge.
A passer-by who saw her called an ambulance, and she was taken to a hospital and later the shelter.
Things have improved for Ms. Freeman, who recently learned that she qualified for FEMA assistance and plans to move into a new apartment later this month.
Moving forward has been tough for many evacuees – even under the best of circumstances.
A staggering percentage of evacuees who came to Dallas-Fort Worth were struggling to get by financially even before the storms, according to an analysis by the Community Council of Greater Dallas of 14,331 applications for housing assistance at FEMA's local Disaster Recovery Center.
The data indicate that 96 percent of the evacuees had incomes of less than $14,000 a year, and two of every three lived on less than $8,000 a year. Only 62 percent had jobs before the hurricane, while 20 percent survived on disability, child support and/or welfare.
Once in Dallas, they faced a higher cost of living and a barrage of deadlines, including Saturday's cutoff of federal assistance:
- The fourth of several recent deadlines to move out of hotels and motels was Monday, when evacuees in 154 rooms statewide had to leave. More than 8,000 evacuees have transitioned out of Texas hotels since February, and most received long-term rental assistance.
- Dallas Housing Authority rental vouchers expired at the end of February for 4,300 families. FEMA extended the vouchers until the end of March as it tries to transfer evacuees to a separate, long-term rental-assistance program. But some evacuees say the money hasn't come or they've been denied.
- Dozens of evacuees received eviction notices last month because the housing authority didn't pay their rent. Authority officials have urged landlords to be patient as rents are processed as quickly as possible.
Coming for help
Officials say up to 20 evacuees show up each day at the local FEMA center with mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Evacuees suffer nightmares, claustrophobia and a fear that their apartments will cave in on them, said crisis counselor Demetra Donaldson. Many fear flooding whenever it rains, she added.
"They can't sleep or won't sleep – there's just an array of symptoms," she said.
Six months after the storm, Katrina evacuee Michelle Pulley said she was scared after getting an eviction notice from a North Dallas landlord who wouldn't accept her rental voucher.
The former New Orleans East resident and home health-care worker still can't find work, and the bills are piling up. She said she was fortunate a charity stepped in to pay the rent, and FEMA assistance now appears to be around the corner.
"A lot of that stresses you out. I get anxiety attacks when I get stressed out, and I don't need none of that," said Ms. Pulley, who said she talks to a pastor when she needs support. "I do a lot of praying. I ask the Lord to let it pass by me so I can make it and survive."
Bobby Dantzler also still worries about how he'll make it. The former Ninth Ward resident said he's had problems getting FEMA rental assistance. He said the agency told him that another person from his New Orleans home already applied. FEMA limits assistance to one person per household.
"Basically, I'm going to be stuck out, and they're not really helping," he said.
The former security worker said he's had trouble finding work because he doesn't have a car. But after witnessing the destruction of New Orleans and seeing the bodies of the dead, Mr. Dantzler said, he's thankful to be in Dallas.
"Dallas has been a blessing, as far as being away from New Orleans," he said. "That's been my therapy ... being here."
Few treated
Mental health task force officials say they've found only a fraction of the hurricane evacuees who need help. According to FEMA, 30,000 evacuees have registered for financial assistance in the Dallas area.
The public mental health system for the poor is treating 245 evacuees, said Sandy Potter, clinical director at ValueOptions, the managed-care company hired by the state to run the regional program. She said others in the system may not have been identified as evacuees.
"This would be the time we would see more and more people starting to rumble," she said, adding that problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder can take months to surface.
The final results of the mental health survey won't be available for several weeks. The task force hopes to interview as many as 1,000 evacuees, but additional funding is needed. On top of the survey grant, the Meadows Foundation provided $83,000 to hire caseworkers to follow up with evacuees and $77,430 to hire staff to coordinate services.
Mental health officials want to help those who need counseling – before they suffer a psychiatric crisis.
"All of us are very worried about people who previously never had a mental illness who have yet to be identified, who are sitting in apartments or hotel rooms suffering in silence," Ms. Potter said. "That's the tragedy of us not knowing who they are. I don't even think we've scratched the surface."
The Survey
The Katrina Mental Health Task Force, a project of the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas, surveyed 400 evacuees to assess the need for mental health services. Officials hope to interview 1,000 evacuees. Early results indicate that half of the respondents are experiencing serious emotional and/or financial distress.
Evacuees were asked if they:
Kept thinking about the event when he/she didn't want to.
Kept having nightmares about the event.
Had reminders of the event that made his/her heart pound, or made him/her sweat or become physically ill.
Stayed away from certain places, people or activities to avoid being reminded of the event.
Forgot all or part of the event.
Began to feel that there was no point in planning for the future.
Became jumpy or easily startled by ordinary noises or movements.
How To Get Help
The deadline for evacuees to apply for federal assistance is Saturday. Those needing help can call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).
For more information about the Dallas survey or mental health referrals, contact the Katrina Mental Health Resource Line at 214-823-9634. To meet a counselor at a Disaster Recovery Center, call 1-866-773-4243.
Source
Katrina Mental Health Task Force
By the Numbers
30,000 Registered evacuees live in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to FEMA.
4,300 Families have rental vouchers that expire at the end of March.
400 Evacuees have been surveyed by the Katrina Mental Health Task Force. About 200 showed signs of serious emotional and/or financial distress.
96% Proportion of the more than 14,000 evacuees who applied for housing assistance in Dallas who had incomes of less than $14,000 a year back home.
62% Percentage of those evacuees who had jobs before the hurricane.
20% Percentage of those who previously survived on disability, child support and/or welfare.
Sources
Katrina Mental Health Task Force; Community Council of Greater Dallas survey; FEMA
E-mail
khorner@dallasnews.com