Public Health Response — Assessing Needs

Never before Hurricane Katrina has a disaster caused such a massive displacement of a U.S. population. Never before has the country seen so vividly the exposure and vulnerability of displaced persons — primarily the poor, the infirm, and the elderly. We know from experience that disasters take their greatest toll on the disenfranchised, but the distressing television images of our citizens stranded without basic human necessities and exposed to human waste, toxins, and physical violence awakened the public health community to a frightening realization: given the ineffective response mechanisms that were in place, Katrina could become a public health catastrophe. . . .