The proposed study is an opportunity to assess human response to the Great Flood of '93, a extremely severe flood that is most unusual in many ways. The plan is to reinterview a sample of 547 subjects previously assessed in a 1983 study of floods and other disasters (dioxin exposure, tornadoes, and radioactive contamination of the water supply). This sample was carefully selected by completely random methods and was systematically interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement (DIS/DS) after the disasters; this sample was selected to have a high proportion of individuals who were previously assessed as part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study. Part of the sample has been affected by the current flood, and part has not; also, part of the control group has been affected by the current flood, and part has not. This will allow for a 2X2 comparison model for testing of various hypotheses about the acute and long term effects of floods, repeat disaster exposures, and different types of disasters. Because this team has amassed comparable data (using the same methods and instruments, including the DIS/DS) from 7 separate disaster sites (N=411), the new flood data to be collected can be effectively compared with the matching data from the other sites, allowing disentangling of variables from key site-specific factors so that comprehensive associations may emerge.
