Natural Disaster Trauma Scenes - Miles Long
A massive tornado outbreak affected the Southern, Midwestern, and Eastern United States from April 25-28, 2011. 
Tornadoes rated as high as EF-4 and EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale caused profound destruction in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia.
At least 328 people across six states perished in the record tornado outbreak that saw at least 178 major confirmed tornadoes slash across wide swaths of the Deep South, striking major population centers and rural hamlets alike. The rolls of the missing are uncertain and ever changing. The actual number of missing across the South is hard to come by.
When the 170-mile-an-hour winds of a deadly tornado ripped the eastern stretch of Yazoo City, Mississippi just over a year ago to shreds, Noreene Girard could do nothing but cry. “The trauma of it was unbearable,” she said.
A study conducted by the University of Kansas related to psychological distress found that 75 percent of tornado victims showed some psychological distress five months after the disaster. The most common symptoms were anxiety, nervousness and mild physical complaints. The study suggests that although there is significant stress, the anger most people feel isn’t as severe as the personalized anger people feel when another human being is involved. Nevertheless, some take natural disasters personal. Trauma events like the hurricanes and flooding flooding leave a special kind of psychological scars. An English study revealed that in many cases people whose homes have been flooded suffer long-lasting trauma symptoms of anxiety, sleep disturbances and depression.
One’s reaction depends a lot on how directly you experience the disaster. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, major floods and destructive storms routinely result in higher suicide rates among stressed survivors. The Centers for Disease Control found that suicide rate increased by almost 14 percent during the first four years after a severe natural disaster. Victims most likely to attempt suicide were people who suffered significant injuries, or the loss of family members, friends, property or jobs. For those who feel very close on the edge of losing everything, suicide becomes an option.
As Hurricane Katrina has shown, the trauma from floods is especially long-lasting. The suicide rate for most hurricane victims is typically highest immediately after the event, whereas it doesn’t peak when there is flooding until four years later. It was a traumatic event and the symptoms are probably just now peaking.
Calls to a mental health hotline in Alabama nearly tripled in March, practically a year after the Gulf oil spill. This argues for providing long-term psychological support for flood victims.
We provide on-call emergency services 24/7. AA Trauma Cleanup Service provides quality work, timely service, and reasonable pricing. We pride ourselves on the high standards we have established and maintained as a Treasure Coast area business. Our 24 hour response team will work quickly and efficiently with discretion and confidentiality. Unmarked vehicles are available upon request. We will gladly provide references.
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