xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 14, Number 4, Fall 2000
Surviving the Wrath of Floyd: UNC Psychiatry Residents’ Volunteer Efforts and NC’s Mental Health Response
On September 15, 1999, Hurricane Floyd began lashing the coast of eastern North Carolina with 13to 16 inches of rain. One-third of our state would encounter a disaster unlike anything that it had ever seen. Let us not forget that this rural area affected was already suffering from a housing shortage and plummeting agriculture prices due to a prervious drought. Even after the rain stopped, rivers swelled resulting in many roads, including I-95, becoming impassable. Lives were lost, houses, farms, and businesses were destroyed, most of which were uninsured. The statistics were staggering: 52 deaths were blamed on this angry hurricane. The floods of Floyd forced waters to hug the tops of many homes’ roofs damaging more than 60,000 homes, of which 8,000 were destroyed completely. Our agriculture industry was hit with the loss of more than 700,000 turkeys, approximately 2 million chickens, and greater than 30,000 hogs. Early estimates predicted that more than 30,000 farms and 90,000 of its workers were affected. The victims of Floyd were left in shock, wondering how to start their lives over with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs.
People from all over the United States quickly reached out to help the flood victims. Many agencies participated in outreach efforts. One such program is Hope After Floyd. Through Hope After Floyd, the state’s Division of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities/Substance Abuse Services along with local mental health agencies provided outreach and crisis counseling through 13 area MH/DD/SA Programs and 5 Area Agencies on Aging to serve 31 counties. Involving the area programs was not as simple as it may seem as many of these programs had experienced facility damage as well. Hope After Floyd’s goals consisted of the following: 1) prevention of long-term serious psychological problems, 2) training of volunteers so that they may offer supportive counseling and referrals in a culturally competent manner, 3) education about disaster stress, etc.
The authors present their own reflections about their outreach experiences.
Warachal’s Reflections
In October,1999, at the encouragement of my mentor, Margie Sved, MD (Chief, Adult Psychiatry, Dorothea Dix Hospital), I traveled to the town of Princeville and neighboring areas with Phillip Veenhuis, MD (Medical Director, North Carolina MH/DD/SA). Besides the two of us, our team consisted of an internist and a nurse. Princeville, the first chartered town by freed slaves in the United States, was devastated by flooding resulting in nearly every house sustaining structural damage by the force of the Tar River and being under water for a week. As I walked with Dr. Veenhuis and met the people of Princeville, I remember initially feeling helpless in that I had nothing to offer the flood victims in their time of loss. I quickly realized that I was wrong. I did have something to offer–a listening ear. As people invited me in their homes and churches, they showed me the flood marks in their homes, told me the history of their families, shared their most treasured possessions that had been destroyed–and I listened. They explained how the Tar River surrounded them on all sides forcing them to run from their homes and that the infiltration of snakes kept them from trying to salvage more of their possessions. We also visited with the Red Cross, FEMA, and the Health Department. I was struck by the fragmentation of services as the different groups were not aware of each other’s efforts. So, besides offering a listening ear to the flood victims, we surprisingly were able to facilitate dialog between the Red Cross, FEMA, and the Health Department.
Eric’s Reflections:
I and other UNC Psychiatry residents participated in Flood Talk, which is a volunteer-staffed clinic heldevery other Saturday in Grifton, NC. Since Hurricane Floyd, its volunteers including Resident and Attending psychiatrists from UNC and ECU along with Family Medicine doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others have helped to provide free mental health care to flood survivors in the Grifton area who are not able to access mental health services, the nearest of which are hours away by car. The first time I volunteered there was about nine months after the flood. I was impressed at how little had changed for the survivors, still living in temporary FEMA trailers and dealing with loss. Reviewing their charts and history, I found that the people with whom I spoke had at one time met DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. With treatment, after nine months they exhibited fewer anxiety symptoms, but more mood symptoms. Most of the medications used were donated SSRI samples. The Flood Talk in Grifton will continue as long as a need exists and is scheduled for 10/28, 11/11, 12/2, and 12/16/00. To volunteer or for additional information, you may contact Sandra Hardee at work: 252-816-3838 or e-mail at hilleys@mail.ecu.edu.
One year later, although there have been strides in the rebuilding process of eastern North Carolina, many people still require housing in FEMA trailers. It is not surprising that many of the survivors experience PTSD symptoms with the slightest rain. You can imagine that during this hurricane season, everyone is on edge. According to the Hope After Floyd Crisis Counseling Summary Report, at 6 months after Floyd: "More than 16,500 crisis-counseling contacts have been made. Of those reached, nearly 30% are older adults served by participating Area Agencies on Aging. Approximately 67,000 survivors were reached through groups. Public education efforts at malls, events, and festivals reached more than 21,000 survivors." Hope After Floyd is still in effect. They will continue during the hurricane season to help survivors become emotionally prepared and attempt to normalize their fears.
References:
Eric Morse, MD, Psychiatry PGY-3 (UNC-CH)
Warachal Faison, MD, Co-Editor, Community Psychiatrist
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