Posttraumatic behaviors: The socioeconomic reasoning of homeowners who voluntarily remained in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Economists and others have observed a phenomenon when, in the aftermath of some severe disasters, most of the population evacuates and never returns, while some homeowners remain entrenched in their homes. This situation was noted in the aftermath of the Love Canal, Times Beach, Hurricane Katrina, Chernobyl, and other catastrophes. These resolute resettlers were holdouts living in dangerous environments that often lacked basic necessities. Few have examined this phenomenon and personal narratives are scarce as to the ways these resolute resettlers made meaning of their experience. To better understand such posttraumatic behaviors, a study using grounded theory was conducted. The study utilized narrative analysis with 30 resettlers in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana seven years following Hurricane Katrina. Three themes emerged: prosocial, embeddedness, and sense of place. Sense of place, with the related constructs of cultural identity, relationships, physical location and historical roots, emerged as the predominant factor in the decision to resettle.;These studies showed that, with Hurricane Katrina, a small segment of the population were resolute resettlers. When this community was destroyed, a large segment of the population left and never moved back. Yet this group refused to evacuate, or returned promptly in the immediate, post-disaster period. The study respondents did not appear to be primarily economically motivated, nor did they consider governmental programs to be important to their decision making. They demonstrated a strong sense of place through a fervent commitment to preserve pre-disaster relationships, a strong desire to remediate their homes and the community, and a desire to protect their cultural identity.