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pece_annotation_1476026053

wolmad
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This article focuses on "chronic disaster syndrome," a condition that arises in the aftermath of a large scale disaster where factors from the disaster lead to perminant changes in the lives of those effected. These changes include physical and mental health crises, geographic displacement, loss of life, family, community, jobs, and property, and societal instability. The causes of these conditions are not only limited to the disaster itself but they are also by the how goverments and private sector institiutions either support recovery or put up road blocks to prevent a return to normal, perpetuating the emergency into the future. 

pece_annotation_1476027510

wolmad
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The bibliography of this article is extensive, showing a clear depth of research. Information from this article was drawn from not only first hand resources such as interviews and news reports, but also from goverment reports and the work of other researchers.

pece_annotation_1476025259

wolmad
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The authors, Vicanne Adams, Taslim Van Hattum, and Diana English work at the University of California San Francisco in the department of anthropology, history, and social medicine. The department’s research includes aspects of global health, social theory, critical medical anthropology, and disaster recovery.

pece_annotation_1476026866

wolmad
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“ Living with long-term stress related to loss of family, community, jobs, and social security as well as the continuous struggle for a decent life in unsettled life circumstances, they manifest what we are calling ‘chronic disaster syndrome.’”

“One of the recurring themes that we heard from those who were still displaced in trailers or temporary living situations (e.g., with relatives), but more so from those who had returned and were, in a few cases, back in their homes, was that, even if the neighborhoods were being rebuilt, people had lost so much that nothing would never be the same.”

“But the failure of an effective recovery in New Orleans has created yet another kind of “disaster”—the ongoing disaster. New Orleans offers an example of the perpetuation of a “state of emergency” that was initiated by Katrina but has been sustained by ongoing politicoeconomic machinery—a machinery that ultimately needs to “have a disaster” to justify its existence.”

pece_annotation_1476026569

wolmad
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The article is supported through the use of interviews with Katrina survivors, providing first hand accounts and opinions of the recovery efforts from the storm, Statistics and policy moves from FEMA and other response agencies that worked in the aftermath of the storm, and data from census reports and other goverment sources to establish the scope of the disaster, and the widespread displacement and homelessness it caused.