Hurricane Irma Psychotrauma Support for Victims

Background

Category 5 Hurricane Irma devastated communities across the Caribbean and southern United States with sustained wind speeds of up to 185 mph. Disasters such as Hurricane Irma devastate young and old, partners and families, immigrants, refugees, and native residents alike. These people have lost their homes and businesses or are first responders who experience their own trauma. Real Medicine Foundation is working to expand our current Hurricane Harvey response to communities affected by Hurricane Irma. Services include counseling and psychosocial support. 

RMF’s Presence

Real Medicine Foundation is an international NGO with an excellent track record in psychological trauma support. We believe that “real medicine” focuses on treating the person as a whole, providing medical/physical, emotional, social, and economic support. To care for victims of Hurricane Harvey, we are collaborating with Organizational Resilience International (a partner since Hurricane Katrina) to implement a 3-phase psychological support project for Hurricane Harvey victims in the Houston area. 

Since December 2017, our team has been speaking with clergy members from across the Greater Houston area to identify and assess their needs regarding how to support both church and community members in the wake of the September disaster. During this time, the RMF team of psychological trauma experts also provided consultations to ministers across the affected area and began planning to provide several trainings for ministers and religious leaders from around the impacted area over the coming months.

February Training Sessions

For our February training sessions, the RMF trauma team was on the ground in Houston and Corpus Christi from February 19, 2018 to February 21, 2018. This second trip to the Houston area was once again coordinated with the Christian Church in the Southwest (Disciples of Christ). Regional Minister Andy Mangum, DMin, brought together ministers and lay leaders from across Houston and Corpus Christi for support and training on issues of psychological trauma and building resilience.

Our team of psychological trauma experts—Kevin Becker, PsyD; Annie Farnsworth, PhD; and Lisa Tieszen, MA, LICSW—held 4 consultation and training sessions at 3 locations:

• First Christian Church in Houston (February 19^th and 20^th)
• Kashmere Garden Community Center (February 20^th)
• First Christian Church in Corpus Christi (February 21^st)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints assisted the team as well, by taking the lead on coordinating the Kashmere Garden meeting.

Each community was uniquely impacted by the storm this past August. Participants related stories of extreme inundation of water or massive wind damage and destruction. One pastor described the damage to her church, which resulted from 4 feet of water in the church, including fish from the nearby bayou. Another told the story of parishioners who were tossed about in their mobile home as it tumbled in the high winds. In Houston, the rain lasted 8 days and brought devastation to a wide range of neighborhoods, while the Corpus Christi area experienced 12 hours of hurricane-force winds which destroyed homes, crushed buildings, and forced many to flee and not return. The caregivers we met with continue to work hard to support their communities as the prolonged recovery and rebuilding process continues. 

The consultation and trainings provided by RMF’s trauma team focused on the key principles of safety, predictability, and control.

Lectures, discussions, and handouts helped attendees identify ways to enhance each of these for members of their traumatized communities. While each group will recover at a different pace, the team emphasized the overall lifecycle of a disaster and helped participants understand the psychological ups and downs they can expect during the recovery process. 

The trainings we provided on the psychological impacts of disaster and the important strategies and principles for recovery were extremely well received. There were many repetitions of “thank you” and “bless you” for the team at each session. Approximately 50 clergy members and lay leaders attended the trainings. They will now pass their learning on to their congregations and communities through sermons, individual pastoral counseling, and ministry, thereby broadening the program’s overall impact to thousands of people.

As we continue to serve victims of Hurricane Harvey, Real Medicine Foundation is working to further establish the support and visibility of our program. With additional resources, we will build on our current work, extending services to communities suffering the long-term effects of Hurricane Irma.

Category 5 Hurricane Irma devastated communities across the Caribbean and southern United States with sustained wind speeds of up to 185 mph. The destruction, flooding, and chaos of a hurricane can leave communities extremely vulnerable to injury, family separation, and water-borne diseases. 

Survivors of disasters like Hurricane Irma include everyone in the community and region, all in the wake of the storm. They are infants and children, adults young and old, partners and families, immigrants and refugees, and native-born residents. They are people who have lost their homes and businesses, as well as those who are providing help, even as they experience their own trauma.

For many, the fear, trauma, and loss experienced during Hurricane Irma will result in emotional scars that may last for years to come. Long after the water has receded and homes have been rebuilt, the stress and anxiety that accompany disasters of this size and scope will remain. Research indicates that suicide rates, substance abuse, and violence frequently increase in the aftermath of community-wide disasters. Putting life back together in the form of a “new normal” is an emotionally overwhelming process. Our project focuses on communities in the affected area to help minimize the “disaster after the disaster” and get community members back on their feet.

Real Medicine Foundation is an international NGO with an excellent track record in psychological trauma support. We believe that “real medicine” focuses on treating the person as a whole, providing medical/physical, emotional, social, and economic support. To care for victims of Hurricane Irma, we are collaborating with Organizational Resilience International (a partner since Hurricane Katrina) to implement a 3-phase psychological support project for victims.

Current Situation

Nearly 4 months after the storm devastated Florida and parts of the Caribbean, the need for psychological support has become glaringly important. As with most natural disasters, the immediate needs of rescue, housing, food, and reuniting with loved ones dominate the early weeks following the impact. As these basic needs are increasingly met via short-term support from government and nonprofit aid agencies, the emotional impacts of such disasters begin to surface. The road back to stabilization will be years long for many in the region. For this reason, the timing of our psychological support team's efforts couldn't be better.

Beginning Implementation

In order to reach as many people as possible and to assure the delivery of services specifically designed and targeted for the recipients, we are working closely with representatives of the Christian Church in the Southwest (CCSW), an organization covering New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Oklahoma. The RMF team has begun providing consultations to ministers across the affected areas damaged by Hurricane Harvey, and will be offering several trainings to ministers and religious leaders from around the impacted area over the coming months. The trainings are designed to help leaders recognize some of the long-term impacts of traumatic events and to offer resources and tools so they can better support their community members. Additionally, we will be available to provide support and resources to community members and leaders during our multiple visits to the area. We will provide these services in English and Spanish in order to help address the needs of many predominantly Spanish-speaking congregations.  Once this work has been facilitated in Houston we will move South to Florida.

By working with ministers, community leaders, and community members in this way, providing them with support and additional training to help others, RMF will multiply the effect of our psychological support project and help strengthen whole communities.