Mental Illness Prevalence and Disparities Among Hurricane Sandy Survivors: A 2-Year Retrospective.

This study examined mental health status among Hurricane Sandy survivors in the most severely damaged areas of New York and New Jersey in 2014, approximately 2 years after this disaster. We used the 2014 Associated Press NORC survey of 1009 Sandy survivors to measure the prevalence of probable mental illness and to analyze its association with selected socioeconomic characteristics of survivors, direct impact by Sandy, as well as social support and social trust. The study found major disparities in mental illness by race/ethnicity, age groups, and employment status. Higher Sandy impact levels were strongly associated with higher rates of mental illness and accounted for much of the disparity between blacks and Hispanics compared with whites in our study group. Social support was more strongly associated with lower rates of mental illness than was social trust. In addition, social support served as a significant mitigating factor in the mental health disparities between blacks and whites. The severity of mental illness among Sandy survivors differed significantly among racial and ethnic groups but was moderated by both the direct impact of this disaster on their lives and the degree of social support they received, as well as how trusting they were.

Vulnerability of Renters and Low-Income Households to Storm Damage: Evidence From Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Objectives. To identify disparities in home damage from Hurricane Maria among Puerto Rican households with different housing tenure and income levels.Methods. Using household inspection data obtained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including an ordinal damage severity measure, we used generalized ordered logistic regression to estimate the relative risks of damage severities between renters and homeowners, and between households with different incomes.Results. With respect to the FEMA damage-severity classifications of "minor," "major," and "destroyed," renters were more at risk than homeowners for both "major-or-destroyed" and "destroyed" outcomes. Similarly, lower-income households were at greater risk for both "major-or-destroyed" and "destroyed" outcomes. When we allowed for an interaction between income and housing tenure, the difference in risk of "destroyed" outcomes between renters and homeowners was substantially greater at lower income levels.Conclusions. These results provide evidence at the individual household level that renters and lower-income households are most vulnerable to hurricane damage. Our interaction results suggest that lower-income renters are particularly vulnerable to severe home damage.Public Health Implications. Disaster preparedness policies should raise structural standards for low-income housing to reduce risks of severe damage.