Does When You Die Depend on Where You Live? Evidence from Hurricane Katrina.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Deryugina T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8340931 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Does When You Die Depend on Where You Live? Evidence from Hurricane Katrina.
Deryugina Tatyana T Molitor David D
The American economic review 20201101 11
We follow Medicare cohorts to estimate Hurricane Katrina's long-run mortality effects on victims initially living in New Orleans. Including the initial shock, the hurricane improved eight-year survival by 2.07 percentage points. Migration to lower-mortality regions explains most of this survival increase. Those migrating to low-versus high-mortality regions look similar at baseline, but their subsequent mortality is 0.83-1.01 percentage points lower per percentage point reduction in local mortal ...[more]
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Project description:ObjectiveThis study investigated whether racial disparities in depression were present after Hurricane Katrina.MethodData were gathered from 932 New Orleans residents who were present when Hurricane Katrina struck, and who returned to New Orleans the following year. Multiple logistic regression models evaluated racial differences in screening positive for depression (a score ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), and explored whether differential vulnerability (prehurricane physical and mental health functioning and education level), differential exposure to hurricane-related stressors, and loss of social support moderated and/or reduced the association of race with depression.ResultsA univariate logistic regression analysis showed the odds for screening positive for depression were 86% higher for African Americans than for Caucasians (odds ratio [OR] = 1.86 [1.28-2.71], p = .0012). However, after controlling simultaneously for sociodemographic characteristics, preexisting vulnerabilities, social support, and trauma-specific factors, race was no longer a significant correlate for screening positive for depression (OR = 1.54 [0.95-2.48], p = .0771).ConclusionsThe racial disparity in postdisaster depression seems to be confounded by sociodemographic characteristics, preexisting vulnerabilities, social support, and trauma-specific factors. Nonetheless, even after adjusting for these factors, there was a nonsignificant trend effect for race, which could suggest race played an important role in depression outcomes following Hurricane Katrina. Future studies should examine these associations prospectively, using stronger assessments for depression, and incorporate measures for discrimination and segregation, to further understand possible racial disparities in depression after Hurricane Katrina. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Project description:Hurricane Katrina (category 5 with maximum wind of 280 km/h when the eye is in the central Gulf of Mexico) made landfall near New Orleans on August 29, 2005, causing millions of cubic meters of disaster debris, severe flooding, and US$125 billion in damage. Yet, despite numerous reports on its environmental and economic impacts, little is known about how much debris has entered the marine environment. Here, using satellite images (MODIS, MERIS, and Landsat), airborne photographs, and imaging spectroscopy, we show the distribution, possible types, and amount of Katrina-induced debris in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Satellite images collected between August 30 and September 19 show elongated image features around the Mississippi River Delta in a region bounded by 92.5°W-87.5°W and 27.8°N-30.25°N. Image spectroscopy and color appearance of these image features indicate that they are likely dominated by driftwood (including construction lumber) and dead plants (e.g., uprooted marsh) and possibly mixed with plastics and other materials. The image sequence shows that if aggregated together to completely cover the water surface, the maximal debris area reached 21.7 km2 on August 31 to the east of the delta, which drifted to the west following the ocean currents. When measured by area in satellite images, this perhaps represents a historical record of all previously reported floating debris due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floodings, and tsunamis.
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