The Children’s Health Fund (CHF) released its first report on the health of the children displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and it seems that, even years after storm winds and rains have subsided, the ravage of these two immense storms is still being felt. In the storms’ aftermath, thousands of Gulf Coast residents were left homeless, a situation remedied by government-issued mobile homes and trailer houses meant as only temporary living quarters but the reality is that some children called these trailers home long enough to become sickened by the toxin-rich environment inside them and many now suffer from serious physical and mental conditions.

The largest cluster of trailer houses provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, until it was closed earlier this summer. The CHF reviewed the medical records of 261 children living in Renaissance Village, as this trailer park was called. After the storms, CHF, a New York-based nonprofit group, established mobile clinics in areas of need, including Renaissance Village. Their review revealed:

• 41% of children younger than 4 had iron-deficiency anemia, which causes fatigue, attention-deficit disorders, and skin problems.
• This rate of anemia is more than double the rate of anemia in children of the same age living in homeless shelters in New York City, where the concentration of pediatric anemia has been highest in the nation.
• 55% of these displaced children exhibited learning or behavior problems.
• 42% developed allergic rhinitis, also called hay fever and upper respiratory infection.
• 24% developed a cluster of ailments affecting the skin and upper respiratory tract, including allergies.

The CHF study says that of the 30,000 children estimated to have lived in trailers and other types of temporary housing, these children from the Baton Rouge trailer park are probably the sickest.

Recalling her experience at the Baton Rouge CHF clinic, local pediatrician Heidi Sinclair, says the rate of skin rashes and respiratory problems presented by these children was disturbing. The rate of anemia was so unusually high she thought her testing equipment was malfunctioning.

FEMA estimates 9,300 families are still living in temporary trailers and an additional 1,600 live in hotel rooms throughout the Gulf Coast region.

Irwin Redlener, president of CHF and author of the just-released study, describes this first wave of medical data as “extremely alarming” and expresses concern for the children his organization is not getting to. Since the Renaissance Village trailer park is now closed, there is also concern that many children who lived here cannot be found for follow-up study or care.

Earlier this year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced an impending long-term study of the children who lived in FEMA-issued trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi after hundreds of them were found to emit dangerous levels of toxins, including formaldehyde.

Source: USA Today