É«½äÖ±²¥

Studies of health impacts of Hurricane Katrina have been limited in their populations covered, length of observation, and whether they included individuals no longer living in the hurricane-affected locations. In the present study, we use an event study method to investigate physical and mental health outcomes for all Black and non-Black adults who resided in the City of New Orleans just before Katrina struck, estimating outcomes in the four years after Hurricane Katrina relative to in the 10 prior years. We supplement this with estimates of physical health outcomes in the three-state region of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. We find pronounced spikes in first diagnoses of hypertension and emotional problems immediately after Hurricane Katrina in the four years following the hurricane. Among non-Black adults only, spikes in incidence of emotional problems were shorter lived. We conclude that adverse physical and mental health endured considerably beyond the immediate post-hurricane period.