Response of the Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education to Hurricane Harvey

Details

• Personal Author:
  Casanova V ; Levin J ; Vance NK ; Wickman A
• Description:
  When Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas, on August 25th, it pounded the region with torrential rain and winds reaching 130 mph. Harvey was the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Charley in 2004, and its impact was felt far beyond the Coastal Bend. Harvey's slow movement across the state led to catastrophic flooding throughout southeast Texas. Rural and agricultural communities lost homes, crops, livestock, equipment, and livelihoods. In southeast Texas, residents can tell you that the only thing stronger than the storm was the support shown by selfless neighbors, tireless volunteers and countless organizations. SW Ag Center staff members and their families helped rescue people and pets from their homes by boat and drove them to shelters. They also helped remove water soaked debris and 'muck out' homes. Affected families and businesses have started to rebuild, but the process will take months or even years. A large portion of those affected did not have flood insurance and have taken on the demolition and construction efforts themselves in order to save money. ... The SW Ag Center continues to keep its finger on the pulse of the recovery efforts, especially for rural and agricultural workers that provide us with the food and fiber to feed and clothe our families. To that end, we are conducting follow-up phone calls with extension agents and U.S. Coast Guard personnel to evaluate the value of our contributions and solicit feedback for future relief efforts. In addition, commercial shrimp fishermen and oystermen from Corpus Christi to Port Arthur suffered great losses including damaged vessels and an influx of silt-choked floodwaters into delicate oyster beds. The SW Ag Center is developing a survey to assess these losses and the needs of these AFF workers and their families. This survey will help to inform priority areas for research and outreach to be addressed by the SW Ag Center. As a center that works with rural and agricultural communities, we are all too aware of challenges faced in rural communities - limited access to healthcare, longer distances between homes and resources, the digital divide, limited access to transportation, and limited roads. When disaster strikes a broad area, rural and agricultural areas receive less attention compared to large cities such as Houston or New Orleans. With pre-existing challenges in rural and agricultural communities, the effects of a natural disaster are felt much more acutely. Raising the level of awareness regarding these challenges and the impact of natural disasters on rural areas is a critical step in assuring that these communities get the help they need the next time disaster strikes. As a center, we learned that after a disaster, the greatest needs are physiological needs - food, water, warmth, and shelter. When a home is destroyed or damaged, these basic needs cannot be met. Getting tangible items to help restore these needs to communities is essential. Although flyers or fact sheets are distributed with good intentions, communities need help with demo and clean up, basic necessities such as underwear and toiletries, and food. Offering a way to protect their safety and health through personal protective equipment is appreciated when faced with the financial enormity of remodeling costs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Community Health Services Cyclonic Storms Emergencies Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Community Health Emergency Response Floods Hurricanes Information Dissemination Natural Disasters Public Health
• ISSN:
  2574-5859
• Publisher:
  Texas Public Health Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6-7
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063960
• Citation:
  Tex Public Health J 2018 Winter; 70(1):6-7
• Email:
  vanessa.casanova@uthct.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Center - Tyler
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  Texas Public Health Journal
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:781d2195384bfc1df397a124408f7414c2069c3b59867ba8b649206e560b383171f59161e0cc89e7c871ad659e06834a317271bb19fe8b5151aadf2ba9926f23
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222492/cdc_222492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 306.27 KB ]