After hurricanes, program aims to help alleviate stress
SLIDELL, LA. — The 10 women gathered on yoga mats in a New Orleans suburb, the lights dimmed.
“I’d like to invite you to close your eyes,” instructor Stephanie Osborne said in a soothing voice from the front of the room. The only other noises were the hum of the air conditioner and the distant sounds of children playing in a nearby field.
For the next hour, the women focused on mindfulness exercises designed to help them deal with the stress of everyday life.
The six-week mindfulness program in Slidell, Louisiana, is the brainchild of Kentrell Jones, the executive director of East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity, who was concerned about the health of her colleagues and others affected by Hurricane Ida, which ripped through this region east of New Orleans last year.
Participants meet for an hour once a week for six weeks beginning with the inaugural session this fall. Future sessions are planned for next year.
Prospective participants, who had to be living in the parish during Hurricane Ida, filled out a survey asking them questions such as whether they had struggled with lack of sleep or had problems paying bills or having to relocate since the hurricane. They don’t have to be clients of Habitat for Humanity’s housing programs, although some are.
Jones said the organization’s clients have struggled with being displaced from their homes, trying to complete repairs while dealing with insurance and living through another hurricane season in which the calendar is filled with anniversaries of previous storms and everyone keeps an eye glued to the television for weather alerts.
One family she works with had to move to Mississippi in the aftermath of Ida while their tree-damaged home was repaired. Just as the repairs were completed, the husband died of a heart attack.
“You have people that are stressed,” she emphasized.
The program hits on a growing concern — the longterm stress that extreme weather events such as hurricanes can take on the people who live through them. People who work in hurricane-affected areas often talk about the stress the rebuilding process can have on people and the anxiety stirred up during hurricane season.
In late August, with anniversaries of Hurricanes Katrina and Ida looming, the New Orleans emergency preparedness social media feed reminded residents of something called the “anniversary effect,” which might trigger feelings of depression or PTSD. After Hurricane Ian hit Florida in September, two men in their 70s took their own lives after seeing their losses.
In the north shore region of Louisiana, local mental health officials note that hurricanes are often followed by increased suicides in ensuing years. Nick Richard, who heads the local branch of the National Alliance on Mental Health, said that following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina suicides climbed by 46% in 2007.
Research also suggests extreme weather events such as hurricanes can have longterm health effects on survivors. A Tulane University study found hospital admissions for heart attacks were three times higher after Katrina than before the storm.
Another study published earlier this year looked at mortality rates for counties that experienced a tropical cyclone over a 30-year period. The research found increases for certain types of deaths, including cardiovascular and respiratory disease in the six months after landfall.
The study’s lead author, Robbie Parks, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, said he’s concerned the full extent of events like hurricanes aren’t being captured. It’s an “incredible challenge” just counting the dead after a hurricane, he said.
One of the women taking part in the inaugural meditation course is Louise Mace of Slidell. She had just opened her shop selling home decor goods when Katrina wiped it out in 2005. Then, last year, Hurricane Ida’s winds and a tornado damaged her roof.
The stress has taken a toll on Mace’s health, with her blood pressure jumping up and down. Her doctor recommended meditation and Jones recruited her for the course. Mace said it has helped her learn techniques to deal with the stress, and also to know she’s not alone.
“You think you’re dealing. You think you’re fine. You’re not. Listening to other people made it better,” Mace said.