PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND VOLUNTEERING AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER: THE CASE OF HURRICANE KATRINA

This study examines prosocial behavior and volunteerism in the context of Hurricane Katrina. Using interviews from East Baton Rouge Parish residents, results demonstrate that self-efficacy, education, religious attendance, and organizational membership exert significant, positive effects on feeling personally responsible for helping victims. Education, presence of children in the home, organizational membership, and the interaction between religious attendance and personal responsibility exert significant, positive effects on total hours spent volunteering at shelters for victims. These findings suggest that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the characteristics of the typical volunteer and those who volunteer in a natural disaster.     

LESSONS FOR RESEARCHERS AND FUNDING AGENCIES FROM HURRICANE KATRINA: A RESEARCH NOTE FROM MISSISSIPPI

We surveyed National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research in Mississippi to determine the economic extent of research damage and delays due to Hurricane Katrina. While several facilities were physically damaged, we found that the largest effects were time delays and missed opportunities. While psychological factors were not part of the original economic impact study, it became clear that they played an important role. Specifically, the Principal Investigator's (PI's) attitude of “just another delay” was one cultural barrier to fully accounting for the cost of these research delays. We concluded that Principal Investigators, with the assistance of funding agencies, should be better trained to measure time and opportunity costs associated with their research, so future disaster recovery efforts can more fully address those needs.     

ADJUSTING TO UNCERTAINTY: COPING STRATEGIES AMONG THE DISPLACED AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

This study examined the coping strategies of individuals displaced after Hurricane Katrina. Following the evacuation of New Orleans, surveys were administered to those individuals displaced by Katrina and relocated to shelters or in Disaster Centers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Lansing, Michigan; different parts of Indiana and Kentucky; and federal aid distribution centers throughout Texas. Results indicated that talking, staying informed, and praying emerged as predictors of changes in psychological stress during relocation. Differences emerged in coping strategies based on gender, race, and income; however, age did not emerge as a factor. Recommendations are made to use these results for postcrisis response and coordination.     

THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED BACKGROUND RISK ON BEHAVIORAL HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM HURRICANE KATRINA

I explore the hypothesis that Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 raised perceived background risks, which had spillover effects on behavioral health outcomes of mental health and substance use. I estimate the effect that Katrina had in the nondamaged storm surge region, in time intervals leading up to and after the hurricane, compared to areas impervious to hurricanes. I find causal evidence that Katrina increased poor mental health days by 18.8% for the first month after Katrina, and increased smoking among lifetime smokers until 2007. Effects were larger in counties with disproportionate risk to storm surge and for low‐educated individuals. (JEL D81, I12, Q54)