Web Sites by Topic 

Hurricanes Katrina and Ike

As school specialists face the reality that displaced families from hurricanes may relocate throughout the United States, including New Jersey, immediate access to web site information and resources such as these will most likely be useful and timely material for school specialists.  However, web sites that address a specific trauma or incident (e.g., Hurricanes Katrina and Ike) are often temporary and expire when no longer deemed timely by the sponsor.

NOTE:  Please review the web sites under “Emergency Planning and Disaster Preparedness” for general information on disasters in addition to the web sites below specific to Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies offers information on handling trauma related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (http://www.istss.org).

American Psychological Association (APA)’s Help Center offers Managing Traumatic Stress: Hurricane Katrina and Children.  It has tips for understanding and assisting surviving children, especially if children were victims of a hurricane or were separated from their families (http://www.apahelpcenter.org./articles/article.php?id=109).  Other related articles describe resilience, strategies for people to help themselves, their families, and their children, and managing traumatic stress (http://www.apahelpcenter.org./).

MindOH! Foundation helps students explore the good that can come from a bad situation and encourages them to be courageous in the face of a disaster.  It is designed to encourage both the victims of hurricanes and the giving to relief organizations to assist victims.  The site contains various lesson plans and activities, empowering projects for students to help victims, and broadcast messages that can be read over a school's in-house public announcement system (http://www.mindohfoundation.org/hurricanekatrina.htm).  PDF examples include   (http://www.mindoh.com/docs/LessonPlan_HurricaneKatrina.pdf), (http://www.mindoh.com/docs/Citizenship_HelpingHands_Katrina.pdf), and (http://www.mindoh.com/docs/HurricanKatrina.pdf).

American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress is a multidisciplinary network of specialists in trauma and offers information on handling trauma related to hurricanes (http://www.aaets.org/column6.htm). 

Parenthood.Com offers tips to help children cope with fears of natural disasters (http://parenthood.com/articles.html?article_id=8142).

Kids Growth provides tips to calm children’s fear of severe weather (http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=1269).