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PANAMA CITY – Amy Cross struggles to explain the stress of living in a city torn apart by Hurricane Michael. She is afraid after hearing gunshots at night and she is confused because she no longer recognizes the place where she spent her 45 years.
"I just do not feel that I really feel at home, I do not feel at home at all," said Cross.
Health workers say they see signs of mental problems in residents nearly two weeks after Michael, and that these problems could persist because a short-term disaster turns into a recovery that could take years.
Tony Averbuch, who runs a disaster medical assistance team that sees 80 to 100 patients a day in tents installed in a seriously damaged Bay Medical Sacred Heart hospital car park, said some people showed signs of wear.
It is not difficult to imagine: to get to the treatment site, you have to cross streets with roadblocks and distribution lines, and the building itself of the hospital was torn by the strong winds of Michael.
"In all types of disaster, we find that people have been exposed to circumstances far beyond what they face on a daily basis," said Averbuch of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
For Cross, this meant getting new prescriptions for the medications she was taking for depression.
"We're in shock, it's a lot, it's heartbreaking," she said.
The signs of trauma are not a surprise to those who studied the population after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The damage to Mexico Beach was similar to that of southern Mississippi, where whole communities were razed by the wind and the storm, and the reconstruction of the city of Panama could take years. , as well as parts of New Orleans after the flood of the metropolitan area.
Dr. Irwin Redlener of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University has observed widespread and persistent psychological effects after Katrina. One study found that five years after the storm, parents reported that over 37% of children had a clinical diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or behavioral disorder.
Redlener says that this is partly because parents are overwhelmed and are less able to protect their children from bad experiences.
"They survived a major disaster, which is good, but everything they knew is gone," he said.
Researcher David Murphey said that children are turning to their parents to learn how to respond to completely new and frightening situations.
"If they see parents breaking up a bit, it will also create anxiety for the kids," said Murphey.
Dr. Emily Harville, an associate professor at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, said most people would be returning to where they were about a year or so ago, but that others would have difficulties longer.
"There will be a small group that will continue to have long-term mental health problems," she said.
Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki said a football game played in a high school on Saturday afternoon was part of an effort to restore the usual lifestyle habits, to "create a normal life." "in order to help people feel more comfortable in a city devastated by the disaster. l & # 39; hurricane.
"People have been stressed, they have no means of communication, no public services, it was difficult, but we have worked very, very hard to create an environment that makes them as good as possible," he said. Brudnicki.
The game has been a boost for many. Missy Guynn, an English teacher at Mosley High School, had the chance to hug students she had not seen or heard of before Michael.
"I was worried for them – it was a pleasure to see them, to communicate with them today and see how well they are doing," she said.
Jessyka Bartice, 34, from Panama City worries both for her hometown and for taking care of her child. But she is also looking for good in a horrible situation. Perhaps problems such as crime, drugs and racial conflict will improve as people who have been forced to work together during and after the storm have forged new ties, did not they? she declared.
"It's really sad, but it brought everyone together," she said. "This will make this city a bigger and better place."
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