| By the time Wilma hit us, we were already pretty tattered and our emotions were pretty raw." | |
| Billy Causey, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary |
|
While Katrina is the most notorious storm, an onslaught of hurricanes since the summer of 2004 has impacted coastal resource managers in every state and territory from the Caribbean to Texas.
The homes and belongings of many staff members, or their immediate families, have been destroyed or severely damaged, and their lives disrupted. Coastal management office buildings have been flooded, equipment and files have been lost, and natural resources damaged.
Coastal management staff members have not been immune to the emotional toll that the repeat hurricanes and the resulting destruction have had on many Gulf Coast residents. In some cases, staff members who evacuated to other areas decided not to come back.
"You can't be surrounded by so much devastation and not be emotionally impacted," says Kerry St. Pé, program director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program in Louisiana. "It's taken a serious emotional toll on every coastal resident."
"I'm really concerned with our staff," says L.G. Adams, manager of the Weeks Bay Reserve in Alabama. "This past year Tropical Storm Arlene, Hurricanes Cindy, Dennis, and then Katrina all came through our neighborhood. . . We're storm weary."
Staff members in Louisiana's Coastal Management Division headquarters have been emotionally impacted by Katrina, even though their homes and offices are located in Baton Rouge—80 miles inland from New Orleans—and damage to the area was primarily downed trees and power outages, says Jim Rives, acting administrator for the division, which is part of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
"It's stressful when you don't know where your mother is, like I didn't," says Rives. Many people had evacuees staying with them and had friends and family who lost homes and belongings.
"You almost have survivor's guilt," Rives says. "You don't want to show how much it bothers you when so many are worse off than you are."
Addressing staff members' stress is a priority for many coastal managers in hurricane-prone areas.
"You've got to be patient with your staff," advises Jan Boyd, director of Coastal Ecology in the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
Boyd notes that Mississippi coastal program staff members are requiring additional time off, flexibility with time schedules, and even a more relaxed dress code. "I'm much more lenient," he says.
"People need a little extra consideration during these times. It's put our priorities in a different place."
Staff members at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary had to evacuate, or prepare to evacuate, for Hurricanes Dennis in July, Katrina in August, Rita in September, and Wilma in October. "By the time Wilma hit us, we were already pretty tattered and our emotions were pretty raw," says Billy Causey, sanctuary manager.
Wilma did significant damage to the sanctuary and many employee homes, including flooding Causey's.
"People can be stressed emotionally and not know it," says Causey. "Some of our early healing work is to bring our team together and focus on getting our staff members' homes and personal lives back in order as quickly as possible."
Causey adds, "The big thing is to get people to talk about it and share their stories. It's important to hear what your people's greatest concerns and challenges are, and then try to get them the assistance that they need."
"Human resources are just that—human," advises Adams. "Their emotions and stress are factors that shouldn't be ignored."
