Some Questions and Problems in Dealing with the Relationship Between Community Disasters and Mental Health Consequences

Date
1984
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Description
In late June 1983, engineers from the Federal Bureau of Land Reclamation released water over dams in the Colorado river system, to relieve reservoirs swollen by record runoff from late spring snows in the Rocky Mountains. By the middle of July, and downstream, the released water pushed the Colorado over its banks in its worst flooding in decades in Arizona, resulting in at least seven deaths and millions of dollars in property damage. What federal officials called controlled flooding contaminated underground wells, damaged hundreds of homes, and furnished ample breeding ground for millions of mosquitoes, raising fear of encephalitis and other diseases. The flooding was foreseen as lasting until September or later in Arizona and other states.
Keywords
community disaster, mental health
Citation