Hurricane Leaves Deep Scars
It will be years before the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina are felt by the families who survived it. So The Early Show correspondent Debbye Turner caught up with another family who survived Hurricane Andrew to find out what's ahead for the latest storm victims.
With winds so strong it destroyed measuring instruments, Hurricane Andrew flattened the town of Homestead, Fla. in 1992. As their house collapsed around them, the Roberts family holed up in their laundry room.
"Our emergency plan was we'll put the kids in the dryer," Mimi Roberts says. "Even if the ceiling falls in, it's not going to crush the dryer."
Her husband Stan Roberts adds, "I thought we were going to die. I did not think we were going to make it through the storm."
The family survived - barely - but lost nearly everything they owned. Among the ruins of their community was a new fear: How their kids, then 1, 2 and 5, would process the disaster.
Mimi Roberts notes, "My son was probably 5-years old before we could use any type of power tool around him, even run the vacuum cleaner. Any loud type of noise would just trigger it all back again."
Today, at age 14, Grant still feels Andrew's impact. He says storms scare him. "I'm scared of them, very terrified of them," he admits. "Actually, I'll grab flashlights and candles and all that, and I'll be prepared."
Psychologist Dr. Robin Goodman says for the next couple of months Katrina survivors will experience feelings of anger, depression, and anxiety. But like Grant Roberts, they may also suffer long-term post-traumatic stress symptoms, which shows up with triggers like sounds, sights, and smells that remind the survivor of the tragic events.
"What it can lead to is intrusive memories," Dr. Goodman explains. "He'll start experiencing these things in unpredictable ways and places. It can interfere with school and relationships with people."
Amid the chaos, the Roberts stayed focus on what they could do: remain a family.
"We saw a lot of our friends get divorced. It becomes so easy to fight," Mimi Roberts notes. "You got to remember, everything else is gone so this is all you got. If it just meant sitting on the floor with a candle or a flashlight, and having dinner as a family like we've always done, then that's what we did."
Dr. Goodman says having a routine is very important. That is why she thinks it is great that the children who survived Hurricane Katrina are back in school.
"They know what to expect there," she says, but notes there are some challenges. "They're not with their friends. It's all those domino effects that will affect them. They may not be able to concentrate; their memories are not so great; they're confused. Over the next few months, really keep an eye on those kids."
Jessica Roberts, who was 2 when Andrew hit her home, says, "When we do talk about it, we don't talk about losing everything that we had. We talk about the strength it took us to stay together and that is what is most important."
That strategy helped them move on to a new home, new jobs, and new lives. But the recent images of Katrina's destruction in the Gulf opened up old wounds.
Grant Roberts says, "Knowing that I've been through something that tragic and seeing everybody else having to go through it, it's just -- it's horrible. It's very tragic."
For Katrina's survivors, the Roberts have some advice: you can't look forward if you're too busy looking back.
"Rebuilding doesn't necessarily mean rebuilding your structure," Mimi Roberts says. "It means rebuilding your life. Life does go on. It seemed like it won't. For six months, it seemed like it wouldn't. But eventually it does."
As new hurricane video is back on television with Rita in the works, Dr. Goodman says it is important for parents to talk to their children about the reality of hurricanes in terms of what the family is doing like heeding the warnings. She stresses the importance of keeping children away from the news.
"They'll lose perspective," she says, "especially if little kids think it's happening all the time outside their back door. The older kids might get too caught up in the overwhelming detail of it all. Be active and also reassuring as a parent. We sometimes have to fake it. Then really do it."