The study shows the economic and mental health impacts of Covid-19 on people affected by climate change

When the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative (CEHI) Texas Flood Registry began in April 2011, the goal was to prepare a needs assessment focused on the health and housing impacts of the greater Houston area, which is still recovering less than a year after Hurricane Harvey’s landfall.

In the year In 2019, Tropical Storm Imelda caused another blow to the state, causing flooding and battering the already battered community -; An example is climate change causing more frequent storms and other weather-related events.

Then came COVID-19.

Building on the existing record, researchers at CEHI, along with Rice University collaborators and the Environmental Protection Fund, are deploying new surveys to assess the economic and health impacts of the epidemic nationwide, but with a particular focus on those hit back to back. Climate disasters. Two results stand out.

Respondents who experienced significant economic and mental health impacts from Hurricane Harvey were four times more likely to experience income loss during the pandemic and five times more likely to experience major depression due to the pandemic, respectively, than respondents not affected by the storm.

This study highlights the cumulative effects of economic stress and mental health on an individual’s well-being when exposed to multiple crises in a row. Seeing a four- or five-fold increase in these statistical models is alarming, and the time between events shows the cumulative and lasting impact of these stressors.

Marie Lynn Miranda, CEHI Director and Professor, Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame

The Texas Flood Registry is the first of its kind to track the short- and long-term health and housing impacts of hurricanes using online survey data.

For the study, the team analyzed survey data collected between April 2018 and October 2020 from individuals affected by Hurricane Harvey and other major flooding events, including Tropical Storm Imelda. The record first asked about experiences during and after each hurricane, including loss of property or income, as well as feelings of stress related to Hurricane Harvey.

Similar questions were asked in April 2020 for studies determining the impact of Covid-19. Results were drawn from a sample of approximately 3,000 respondents who completed both surveys.

Economic and mental health stress during Hurricane Harvey had a greater impact on how individuals fared during the outbreak than property damage and flooding. Non-Hispanic black respondents and Hispanic respondents were more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic white respondents to report having trouble paying rent or utility bills during the outbreak, consistent with other studies showing that those groups have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

CEHI researchers say the study could help inform recovery efforts.

The study can help federal, state and local officials identify communities most vulnerable to emotional and economic stress during and after extreme weather events that could benefit from additional assistance or assistance.

“Because of climate change, natural disasters will increase in frequency and magnitude, and this research shows that frequent exposure to hazards can damage resilience,” Miranda said. “The emotional and economic effects of these events, especially for high-risk groups, will be felt for years – long after the storm itself has passed.”