Parental Education and Child Physical Health Following the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Purpose: To assess whether trajectories of children’s physical health problems differ by parental college degree attainment in Louisiana areas highly impacted by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (BP-DHOS). Design: Three waves of panel data (2014, 2016, and 2018) from the Gulf Coast Population Impact / Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities studies. Setting: BP-DHOS-impacted …

Exploring Community Needs for Disaster Shelters Using Cultural Probes

During disasters, emergency shelters play a central role in emergency management, providing both a secure environment and centralized sites for the distribution of information, material relief supplies, and access to health and human services. Despite their importance, challenges such as physical access, public awareness, and peoples’ willingness to relocate limit the impact of both shelters …

Family Resilience Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Theory and Evidence

Family resilience raises the question of how family units adapt to external shocks. One notable form of such shocks are disasters. Research shows that disasters are occurring with greater frequency and severity throughout the world. Natural and human-made hazards pose an ongoing threat to positive family functioning everywhere, making it difficult to ignore the importance …

Disparate effects of BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill exposure on psychological resilience

A growing body of research has demonstrated links between exposure to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) and negative consequences for well-being in the impacted region. We contribute to this literature by investigating the relationship between exposure to the DHOS (i.e., physical and economic) and subsequent perceptions of the ability to cope with adverse …

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Exposure, Industry Sector, and Child Health

The historic 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS) led to public distress regarding potential impacts on children in nearby Gulf Coast communities. Using a community-based South Louisiana panel study of households with children, we examined the effect of fishing industry employment on changes in a subjective measure of general child health and whether economic …

RCRC Issue Briefs: Why Children Should Be the #1 Disaster Priority

The Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative (RCRC) Issue Briefs, in this document, are designed to be used by the RCRC communities and all other communities who are seeking to elevate children’s disaster resilience to the attention of local, state, and federal legislators or other decision-makers. These reports can also be used by legislators and decision–makers at …

Informes Temáticos RCRC: Porqué los Niños Deben Ser la Prioridad #1 en Desastres

Los Informes Temáticos RCRC, en este documento, están diseñados para ser utilizados por las comunidades de la iniciativa RCRC y todas las otras comunidades que buscan elevar la resiliencia de los niños ante desastres a la atención de legisladores locales, estatales y federales u otros responsables de la toma de decisiones. Estos informes también pueden …

Fourteen Months into the Covid-19 Pandemic: What We Miss the Most

As the U.S. continues to emerge from the deadliest pandemic in over one hundred years, vaccination rates among Americans have steadily risen, and public health guidelines that have been in place for over a year are increasingly relaxed. In short, Americans are readjusting to a “new normal.” But what this “new normal” looks like for …

Examining the Dose–Response Relationship: Applying the Disaster Exposure Matrix to Understand the Mental Health Impacts of Hurricane Sandy

Disaster exposure is a strong predictor of survivor mental health following large-scale disasters. However, there is continued debate regarding how disaster exposure should be measured and quantified, as well as whether specific types of disaster exposure are more likely to influence certain mental health outcomes like psychological distress or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this …

Gulf Coast parents speak: children’s health in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

This paper examines the physical and mental health of children following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS). A multi-stage sampling design was used to select households for inclusion in the study. Data were obtained from parental interviews (n = 720) in the harder-hit areas of Louisiana in the US Gulf Coast. Three out of five parents reported …

Deepwater Horizon oil spill exposure and child health: a longitudinal analysis

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) created widespread concern about threats to health among residents of the Louisiana Gulf Coast. This study uses data from the Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities study—a longitudinal cohort survey of households with children in DHOS-affected areas of South Louisiana—to consider the effect of DHOS exposure on health trajectories …

Family Resilience Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Theory and Evidence

Family resilience raises the question of how family units adapt to external shocks. One notable form of such shocks are disasters. Research shows that disasters are occurring with greater frequency and severity throughout the world. Natural and human-made hazards pose an ongoing threat to positive family functioning everywhere, making it difficult to ignore the importance …

Crowd-sourcing structure-from- motion data for terrain modelling in a real-world disaster scenario: A proof of concept

Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry techniques are now widely available to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) from optical imagery, providing an alternative to costlier options such as LiDAR or satellite surveys. SfM could be a useful tool in hazard studies because its minimal cost makes it accessible even in developing regions and its speed of use can …

A Philanthropic Approach to Supporting Emergent Disaster Response and Recovery

In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey struck the US Gulf Coast and caused more than US $125 billion in damages in Texas. The loss of lives and the economic damages resulted in an outpouring of support for the recovery efforts in the form of federal assistance and private donations. The latter has supported more creative approaches …

Long-term Recovery From Hurricane Sandy: Evidence From a Survey in New York City

This study aimed to examine a range of factors influencing the long-term recovery of New York City residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. In a series of logistic regressions, we analyzed data from a survey of New York City residents to assess self-reported recovery status from Hurricane Sandy. General health, displacement from home, and household income …

The American Preparedness Project: Where the US Public Stands in 2015

The American Preparedness Project was launched by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) in 2002, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in order to survey public perceptions and opinions on disaster preparedness and to acknowledge that a comprehensive understanding of the concerns of individuals and families is critical to emergency planning efforts on …

Anger Versus Fear: Perceptions of Terrorism Among the American Public

With recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium; Paris, France; San Bernardino, California and elsewhere, the rhetoric for addressing the issue of terrorism has grown more polarized. In particular we have seen increasingly aggressive statements demanding limits to immigration, increasing vigilance against Muslim communities, and calling for more direct military action against terrorist organizations.The tone of …

Children in Disasters: Do Americans Feel Prepared? A National Survey

This study was led by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute on behalf of the Resilient Children/Resilient Communities (RCRC) Initiative, in partnership with Save the Children with funding from GSK.The purpose of the study was to learn more about people’s opinions and attitudes toward disaster preparedness with a focus …

The Hurricane Sandy Person Report: Disaster Exposure, Health Impacts, Economic Burden, and Social Well-Being

The impact a disaster has on the health of a population can be described as having a “dose-response” relationship: the larger the “dose” of the disaster, the greater the health impact or “response” among those individuals and communities exposed. This PERSON Briefing Report describes the impact of Hurricane Sandy (the dose) on the health and …

The Hurricane Sandy Place Report: Evacuation Decisions, Housing Issues and Sense of Community

Hurricane Sandy was one of the largest storms on record, sweeping through the eastern seaboard of the United States with a massive diameter twice the size of Hurricane Katrina. Although wind speeds did not match those of Katrina, the combination of high tide at landfall and the lunar phase resulted in exceptionally high storm surges. …

Do Shared Barriers When Reporting to Work During an Influenza Pandemic Influence Hospital Workers’ Willingness to Work? A Multilevel Framework

Objective Characteristics associated with interventions and barriers that influence health care workers’ willingness to report for duty during an influenza pandemic were identified. Additionally, this study examined whether workers who live in proximal geographic regions shared the same barriers and would respond to the same interventions. Methods Hospital employees (n=2965) recorded changes in willingness to …

Children’s Health after the Oil Spill: A Four-State Study Findings from the Gulf Coast Population Impact (GCPI) Project

In 2012, with funding from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University, in partnership with the Children’s Health Fund, launched a four-state study in order (1) to identify communities of children in the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who were adversely impacted by the …

AT&T: From Paper To Tablets

Following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health deploys a field team to collect research on the health, social and economic impacts on people who live within disaster zones.

Measuring the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Access to a Personal Healthcare Provider: The Use of the National Survey of Children's Health for an External Comparison Group

This paper examined the effect of Hurricane Katrina on children’s access to personal healthcare providers and evaluated the use of propensity score methods to compare a nationally representative sample of children, as a proxy for an unexposed group, with a smaller exposed sample. 2007 data from the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health (G-CAFH) Study, …

Planning for Long‐Term Recovery Before Disaster Strikes: Case Studies of 4 US Cities: A Final Project Report

Among the four phases along the hazard continuum — preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation — the sub‐field of long‐term recovery has long been an outlier, an “orphan” when it comes to concerted policy attention and pre‐disaster planning. It’s not that community residents or municipal and state government officials are unaware of the potential long‐term residual …

Impact on Children and Families of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Preliminary Findings of the Coastal Population Impact Study

Although the ruptured Deepwater Horizon oil well was capped on July 15, 2010, an estimated 3 to 5 million barrels of oil spilled in to the Gulf of Mexico over a three-month period. Several surveys prior to the capping of the well documented the concerns and immediate effects of the oil spill on coastal residents. …

Second Wind: The Impact of Hurricane Gustav on Children and Families Who Survived Katrina

The category 2 Hurricane Gustav made landfall on the Louisiana Coast on Sept. 1, 2008, nearly three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina, resulting in an evacuation of approximately 2 million people and considerable property damage. Although it did not match the intensity or consequence of Hurricane Katrina, the experience of anticipating and responding …

Broadcasting Flu Messages – Citywide Transmission and Community Reception: An Evaluation of Ready New York’s pandemic influenza outreach campaign

Public health risk communication is a central feature of New York City’s pandemic flu preparedness plan. Particularly in the early stages of a pandemic, before effective therapeutic measures are available, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, personal protective hygiene, and voluntary isolation are critical strategies for suppressing the spread of a novel viral strain. New …

Unanticipated Consequences of a Pandemic Flu in New York City: A Neighborhood Focus Group Study

There is fairly consistent evidence that ethnic and minority communities have historically been more vulnerable to disasters, less trusting of public authority, and often so socially marginalized that it placed them in harm’s way. In an effort to explore some of these issues we conducted a series of community-based focus groups among selected ethnic communities …