Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, more than 30% of children displaced by the disaster have been diagnosed with mental health problems including anxiety and depression--twice the national average.
A report published Monday in the journal ´Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness´ revealed that nearly half of all families forced to flee their homes during the hurricane still report household instability.
500,000 people including 160,000 children were unable to return to their homes for 3 months after Katrina. At least 20,000 of those children have emotional disorders, behavior problems or no permanent home.
