Hurricane Andrew Mental Affect on People

AFTER THE STORM
Psychologists on the scene describe the victims' mental anguish and how they are treating it.
Imagine the enormity, to stand in one place and everywhere, as far as you can see, there is damage. There is a loss and bereavement over everything, from tangible to intangible, from a dream to your leg. The scope of this disaster is a major issue, that everyone is going through the same thing. It's loss on a grand scale."
This eyewitness account of the devastation left by the destructive force of Hurricane Andrew is from Charles Gibbs, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and chairperson of the Crisis Response Task Force in Dade County, Florida. He is one of the many mental-health professionals sent to the Homestead area as part of a joint effort between the American Red Cross and the American Psychological Association.
"I remember looking up and seeing body parts flying around me," recounted one survivor to Gibbs of his experiences during the storm. "The walls fell down and then the roof caved in on us:' reported another of the first Force 5 hurricane to befall an American city since Hurricane Camille struck Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1969.
Dubbed the Disaster-Response Network, the volunteer mental-health program was conceived as a 100th birthday gift of the American Psychological Association to victims of disaster everywhere. The network includes not only psychologists, but counselors, social workers, and psychiatrists. The idea was simple and a good one: the Red Cross provides physical treatment; the government, in the form of monetary and military aid, provides the basic necessities of life; and volunteers such as Dr. Gibbs offer their psychological services to ease the burden of adjustment into an entirely uncharted and unfamiliar way of life.
In the aftermath of the storm and its relief efforts, from the politicians' "help is on the way so chin up" speeches to the army and Marine invasion of support and aid, how are people reacting to the incredible loss they have suffered now that their basic needs are being met, now that the tents are erected and the kids are back in school?
"The survivors are suffering a myriad of emotional problems," reports Gibbs. "There's a lot of anxiety, restlessness, and an increase in anger and irritability-all of which is a perfectly normal response to a disaster of this magnitude. Many of the children are suffering night terrors. They see 'Andrew' as a real person and they're afraid he's coming back, that he's going to kill them. People feel like they're in a war zone down here-there are 18,000 troops, and the air is filled with helicopters. I know of one family of 65 people, all living in the same shelter, and they're angry because they no longer have control over their lives."
Many, including the armed forces sent to help out, compare the devastation to that of a bombed-out city in Iraq--a sight witnessed by several of those now serving meals and wiring the tents tents electricity Even the bare trees, stripped of their leaves and providing no shade (a normally uncommon sight in South Florida) are constant reminders of the loss.
Psychologists trained in disaster response identify two distinct phases of trauma. Phase One (also called the Impact Phase) is the acute crisis response, typified by feelings of shock, anger, and frustration. During this phase, in which survivors assess their losses and search for what remains, there may be post-traumatic response to storms, a reluctance to accept the need to move into a shelter, and an outbreak of psychosomatic illnesses such as headaches and stomach trouble.

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19921101-000020.html