Citation

Stone GS, Henderson AK, Davis SI, Lewin M, Shimizu I, Krishnamurthy R, Bisgard K, Lee R, Jumaan A, Marziale E, Bryant M, Williams C, Mason K, Sirois M, Hori M, Chapman J, Bowman DJ. Disasters 2012; 36(2): 270-290.

Affiliation

MS is Health Systems Planning Manager at the Louisiana Public Health Institute, United States PhD, MPH is Chief at the Health Investigations Branch, Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States MSPH is Epidemiologist at the Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States MS is Mathematical Statistician at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States PhD is Mathematical Statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States PhD, MPH is Public Health Informatics Fellow at the Office of Workforce and Career Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States DVM, MPH is Epidemiologist at the Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States MPH is Epidemiologist at the Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States PhD, MPH is Epidemiologist at the Division of Health Studies, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States MPH is Program Manager at the Fostering Emerging Institutes Project, National Network of Public Health Institutes, United States MPH is Maternal Child Health Department Manager, Population Services International, Juba, Southern Sudan MPH is Director at the Health Systems Division, Louisiana Public Health Institute, United States MSPH is Epidemiologist at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health, United States MSPH, SSGB is a doctoral student at the Department of Biostatistics, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, United States MA is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, United States MBA is Manager at the Health Information Services, Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, United States MBA is Director at the Research and Special Projects, Louisiana Recovery Authority, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-7717.2011.01254.x

PMID

21992191

Abstract

The 2005 hurricane season caused extensive damage and induced a mass migration of approximately 1.1 million people from southern Louisiana in the United States. Current and accurate estimates of population size and demographics and an assessment of the critical needs for public services were required to guide recovery efforts. Since forecasts using pre-hurricane data may produce inaccurate estimates of the post-hurricane population, a household survey in 18 hurricane-affected parishes was conducted to provide timely and credible information on the size of these populations, their demographics and their condition. This paper describes the methods used, the challenges encountered, and the key factors for successful implementation. This post-disaster survey was unique because it identified the needs of the people in the affected parishes and quantified the number of people with these needs. Consequently, this survey established new population and health indicator baselines that otherwise would have not been available to guide the relief and recovery efforts in southern Louisiana.

Language: en