Police stand at the ruins of a hotel in El Reno, Okla., May 26, 2019, following a likely tornado touchdown late Saturday night. VOA
Hurricane Michael
Last October, Hurricane Michael destroyed entire towns in Florida. Some people are still living in tents. Janelle Crosby lives in a trailer home full of health hazards.
"Rats. Critters. It's disgusting. Mold. This they put up to try to contain the mold. It was pink, it's now black."
Natural disasters affect everyone differently. In California, Gwen Oesch found that the immediate impact of loss can't always be anticipated.
"I didn't realize how much my home means to me," she said, with a sigh.
Solace in numbers
When a community is hit by a disaster, it can be less traumatic than an individual disaster like an accident, according to Dr. John Lauriello, a psychiatrist at the University of Missouri Health Care.
"I think there's a shared understanding of the trauma, which I think can be very, very helpful because people feel like it wasn't just them. It occurred to their community and, therefore, the community is going to work together, and the rebuilding will happen together."
In Missouri, universities are housing people whose homes were destroyed by massive flooding and a tornado. Darrell Bonner says he's grateful for a place to stay.
"It's a blessing living here. A lot of financial burden has been let loose a little bit. There's hope. There are people out there willing to help," he said.
Crosby says in her Florida community, people share whatever they have.
"We just all take care of each other. It's hard, but like I said earlier, if one of us has generator gas, or if we have propane, we all get to cook that night. If not, we get out here and make fires on the grill and cook."
For children, routine key
Psychiatrist Laine Young-Walker at the University of Missouri Health Care says the sooner parents can get their children back into a normal routine, the better off they will be.
"They thrive in and survive on structure and routine," Young-Walker said. "So when a natural disaster like this happens and they get displaced, they're not in their home anymore, their school is closed, they're not able to go to the school. They don't have that structure. They don't have that routine and that consistency. And it can cause a lot of stress for them."
If schools are destroyed, Young-Walker suggests finding ways to do class work.