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Hurricane Katrina forced the largest and most abrupt displacement in U.S. history. About 1.5 million people evacuated from the Gulf Coast preceding Katrina’s landfall. New Orleans, a city of 500,000, was nearly emptied of life after the hurricane and flooding. Katrina survivors eventually scattered across all fifty states, and tens of thousands still remain displaced. Some are desperate to return to the Gulf Coast but cannot find the means. Others have chosen to make their homes elsewhere. Still others found a way to return home but were unable to stay due to the limited availability of social services, educational opportunities, health care options, and affordable housing. The contributors to Displaced have been following the lives of Katrina evacuees since 2005. In this illuminating book, they offer the first comprehensive analysis of the experiences of the displaced. Drawing on research in thirteen communities in seven states across the country, the contributors describe the struggles that evacuees have faced in securing life-sustaining resources and rebuilding their lives. They also recount the impact that the displaced have had on communities that initially welcomed them and then later experienced “Katrina fatigue\" as the ongoing needs of evacuees strained local resources. Displaced reveals that Katrina took a particularly heavy toll on households headed by low-income African American women who lost the support provided by local networks of family and friends. It also shows the resilience and resourcefulness of Katrina evacuees who have built new networks and partnered with community organizations and religious institutions to create new lives in the diaspora.

Disaster victim identification (DVI) refers to the identification of multiple deceased persons following an event that has a catastrophic effect on human lives and living conditions. Identification methods in DVI are typically described as either being primary, which include nuclear genetic markers (DNA), dental radiograph comparisons, and fingerprint comparisons, or secondary, which are all other identifiers and are ordinarily considered insufficient as a sole means of identification. The aim of this paper is to review the concept and definition of so-called ‘secondary identifiers” and draw on personal experiences to provide practical recommendations for improved consideration and use. Initially, the concept of secondary identifiers is defined and examples of publications where such identifiers have been used in human rights violation cases and humanitarian emergencies are reviewed. While typically not investigated under a strict DVI framework, the review highlights the idea that non-primary identifiers have proven useful on their own for identifying individuals killed as a result of political, religious, and/or ethnic violence. The use of non-primary identifiers in DVI operations in the published literature is then reviewed. Because there is a plethora of different ways in which secondary identifiers are referenced it was not possible to identify useful search terms. Consequently, a broad literature search (rather than a systematic review) was undertaken. The reviews highlight the potential value of so-called secondary identifiers but more importantly show the need to scrutinise the implied inferior value of non-primary methods which is suggested by the terms “primary” and “secondary”. The investigative and evaluative phases of the identification process are examined, and the concept of “uniqueness” is critiqued. The authors suggest that non-primary identifiers may play an important role in providing leads to formulating an identification hypothesis and, using the Bayesian approach of evidence interpretation, may assist in establishing the value of the evidence in guiding the identification effort. A summary of contributions non-primary identifiers may make to DVI efforts is provided. In conclusion, the authors argue that all lines of evidence should be considered because the value of an identifier will depend on the context and the victim population. A series of recommendations are provided for consideration for the use of non-primary identifiers in DVI scenarios. ●Methods for personal identification have traditionally been described as either “primary” or secondary”.●The implied inferior value of non-primary identification methods is questionable.●Non-primary identifiers may play an important role in developing an identification hypothesis.●The value of an identifier will depend on the context and the victim population.●There are multiple issues to consider when using non-primary identifiers in a DVI context.

2023 Finalist, Colorado Book Awards, History/Biography Category This final volume in the award-winning Katrina Bookshelf series reflects upon the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and what they reveal about our society and current cultural climate. More than fifteen years later, Hurricane Katrina maintains a strong grip on the American imagination. The reason is not simply that Katrina was an event of enormous scale, although it certainly was by any measure one of the most damaging storms in American history. But, quite apart from its lethality and destructiveness, Katrina retains a place in living memory because it is one of the most telling disasters in our recent national experience, revealing important truths about our society and ourselves. The final volume in the award-winning Katrina Bookshelf series The Continuing Storm reflects upon what we have learned about Katrina and about America. Kai Erikson and Lori Peek expand our view of the disaster by assessing its ongoing impact on individual lives and across the wide-ranging geographies where displaced New Orleanians landed after the storm. Such an expanded view, the authors argue, is critical for understanding the human costs of catastrophe across time and space. Concluding with a broader examination of disasters in the years since Katrina—including COVID-19—The Continuing Storm is a sobering meditation on the duration of a catastrophe that continues to exact steep costs in human suffering.

In 2015, an earthquake killing 9,000 and injuring 22,000 people hit Nepal. The Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), a reference tertiary hospital, was operational immediately after the earthquake. We studied the profile of earthquake victims admitted in TUTH and assessed what factors could influence hospital length of stay. An earthquake victim dataset was created based on patient records, with information on sex, age, date of admission and discharge, diagnosis, and surgical intervention. We performed an initial descriptive overview of the earthquake victims followed by a time-to-event analysis to compare length of hospital stay in different groups, using log rank test and cox regression to calculate Hazard Ratios. There were in total 501 admitted victims, with the peak of admissions occurring on the fifth day after the earthquake. About 89% had injury as main diagnosis, mostly in lower limbs, and 66% of all injuries were fractures. Nearly 69% of all patients underwent surgery. The median length of hospital stay was 10 days. Lower limb and trunk injuries had longer hospital stays than injuries in the head and neck (HR = 0.68, p = 0.009, and HR = 0.62 p = 0.005, respectively). Plastic surgeries had longer hospital stays than orthopaedic surgeries (HR = 0.57 p = 0.006). Having a crush injury and undergoing an amputation also increased time to discharge (HR = 0.57, p = 0.013, and HR = 0.65 p = 0.045 respectively). Hospital stay was particularly long in this sample in comparison to other studies on earthquake victims, indirectly indicating the high burden TUTH had to bear to treat these patients. To strengthen resilience, tertiary hospitals should have preparedness plans to cope with a large influx of injured patients after a large-scale disaster, in particular for the initial days when there is limited external aid.

Social support plays an important role in adolescents' mental health and well-being, and even more so for disaster survivors. To measure the level of social support, one needs an appropriate tool to produce valid and reliable results; therefore, we aimed to measure the invariance across gender groups, and analyze the construct validity and reliability of the Indonesian version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), a social support measurement tool which was theoretically constructed and has been well validated in many countries with various cultures and backgrounds. A school-based assessment was conducted in junior and senior high schools in a post-disaster setting in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. We analyzed 299 adolescent survivors of a volcanic eruption, aged 12~18 years who completed a 12-item Indonesian version of the MSPSS. The factorial validity confirmed the three-factor structure of the scale (Family, Friends, and Significant Others) which met all of the criteria of parameter indices and provided evidence of high internal consistency reliability. The three-level measurement of invariance, which consisted of configural, metric, and scalar invariance, also performed very well across gender groups with our data and corresponded to the recommended parameters. Our composite reliability values were all fine (>0.7) and indicated that the items in the same construct were strongly correlated and reliable. The Indonesian version of the MSPSS was shown to be a valid, reliable, theoretically constructed, and applicable instrument for adolescent disaster survivors.

Purpose: The study aimed to assess the probability of achieving positive identification through comparative dental analysis (CDA) and to determine the factors that influence its success rate in mass disaster scenarios. Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted across six databases for observational studies that reported both the total number of mass disaster victims and the count of victims identified through CDA alone. A random-effect meta-analysis, using the proportion of victims identified with CDA as the effect size, was conducted alongside subgroup analyses based on the type of disaster (natural or non-natural), the disaster classification (open or closed), and the geographical region (i.e., Europe, Asia). Results: The search yielded 3133 entries, out of which 32 studies were deemed eligible. Most of the studies (96.8%) presented a low risk of bias. The meta-analysis revealed a mean weighted-proportion probability of 0.32, indicating that forensic odontology could identify about one-third of the victims in a mass disaster. The probability of comparative dental identification was three times higher in closed mass disasters compared to open disasters ( p  < 0.05) and was higher in mass disasters occurring in North America and Europe compared to other regions ( p  < 0.05). Conclusion: The current result suggested that CDA can identify approximately 32% of a victim in a hypothetical scenario, emphasizing the integral role of teeth and forensic odontology in victim identification framework.

Rapid identification of human remains following mass casualty events is essential to bring closure to family members and friends of the victims. Unfortunately, disaster victim identification, missing persons identification, and forensic casework analysis are often complicated by sample degradation due to exposure to harsh environmental conditions. Following a mass disaster, forensic laboratories may be overwhelmed by the number of dissociated portions that require identification and reassociation or compromised by the event itself. The interval between the disaster and receipt of victim samples at a laboratory is critical in that sample quality deteriorates as the postmortem interval increases. When bodies decompose due to delay in collection, transport, and sample processing, DNA becomes progressively fragmented, adversely impacting identification. We have previously developed a fully automated, field-forward Rapid DNA identification system that produces STR profiles (also referred to as DNA IDs or DNA fingerprints) from buccal and crime scene samples. The system performs all sample processing and data interpretation in less than 2 h. Here, we present results on Rapid DNA identification performed on several tissue types (including buccal, muscle, liver, brain, tooth, and bone) from exposed human bodies placed above ground or stored in a morgue/cooler, two scenarios commonly encountered following mass disasters. We demonstrate that for exposed remains, buccal swabs are the sample of choice for up to 11 days exposure and bone and tooth samples generated excellent DNA IDs for the 1-year duration of the study. For refrigerated remains, all sample types generated excellent DNA IDs for the 3-month testing period.

Written by seasoned FEMA professionals who developed a training course on managing children's needs in disasters, this reference is a first-of-its-kind publication exploring the management of the care of children during disasters. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach, addressing family structure, housing, schooling, family, mental health, and psycho-social issues. This book identifies the unique needs of children in disasters, examines the infrastructure that supports children in their daily lives, and explains how all involved parties can better prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from future disasters. Case studies clarifying concepts are included.

On October 7, 2023, an attack on Israel led to 1200 Israeli fatalities, creating a critical need for victim identification under challenging conditions of the remains, which ranged from fresh to severely burnt and fragmented. This study examines the role of forensic odontology within a multidisciplinary approach to disaster victim identification, a key element in handling mass casualty events. Ante-mortem dental data, obtained from various sources, were matched with postmortem information, such as full mouth X-rays and cone-beam computed tomography scans, utilizing dental identification software and visual comparison methods. A total of 970 victims were examined, leading to the successful identification of 166 individuals, representing 17 % of the overall identifications made through all scientific means. These findings emphasize the value of dental interventions and morphological features in forensic identifications, depicted in computed tomography-generated panoramic images which can provide an effective alternative to full mouth X-rays when direct oral access was restricted. These insights contribute to advancing forensic practices in response to complex mass disaster situations. •Effective dental identification methods in DVI. 166 victims (17 %) identified by dental methods despite extreme conditions.•CT-generated panoramics are effective alternatives when direct oral access is limited.•Dental interventions and morphology are vital for forensic victim identification.•Importance of dental morphology and potential integration of AI in future identifications.•No significant differences in efficiency between PM CT-OPGs and FMX for identifying dental interventions/tooth morphology.

Today, the world is experiencing a tremendous catastrophic disaster that can lead to potential environmental damage. However, awareness of how to deal with this catastrophic situation still remains very low. One of the most critical issues in disaster response is assigning disaster victims to the best emergency shelter location. This article reviews various existing studies to develop a new approach to determining emergency shelter locations. There are four evaluation criteria that are reviewed: optimization objective, decision variable, methodology, and victim identification. From the investigation, there are two major evaluations that can be further developed. In terms of decision variables, most of the previous research applies direct distance (Euclidean Distance) in the analysis process. However, the application of travel distance can represent a real evacuation process. Another interesting point is the victim identification process. Recent research applies grid-based partitioning and administrative-based partitioning. However, this method leads to a bias in the assignment process. This article recommends the application of K-Means clustering method as one of the unsupervised machine learning methods that is rapidly developing in many engineering fields. For better understanding, an example of K-Means clustering application is also provided in this article. Finally, the combination of travel distance and K-Means clustering will be proposed method for any further research.